BALANCE & EQUALITY
Egalitarianism is believing the principal that all people are equal and deserve equal rights. I can never understand how someone can just feel like they deserve more than you do. Sometimes even in your own family you're not equal to everybody else, there's always going to be a favorite. It's a mentality that has been implanted in our minds. I remember when I was younger I would visit my from time to time because she wasn't sick anymore. My little brother was the only one that lived with her and sometimes she wouldn't let me eat certain things in the house. She would say "Don’t eat that I bought for your brother!" but mother I'm also your child why do I have to get treated like someone else? In the short story "White Women of Color" by Julia Alvarez. She said, "it was clear to us growing up then that lighter was better, but there was no question of discrimination against someone because he or she was dark skinned." (Alvarez). It was clear to me also that growing the youngest you were the better it was.
One night I was coming from the gym and as I walked through the gate in front my house, a taxi driver honked his horn at me. I turned and said I did not call a taxi and I continued walking. I went inside, took a shower, and after a few minutes of watching TV I heard someone knocking on my door. I went to open the door and there was the same taxi driver, this time, two police officers. He pointed his finger at me and said "that is him." So shockingly I asked what did I do? One the officer answered and said "the taxi driver said you took his to this address and ran inside without paying. I have never taken a taxi in my life and I don't even know any taxi's number. They did not believe me and the driver was sure that it was me. The only thing that was left to do was I either pay or I get arrested. My family is Haitian and once they hear police no one wants to be involved. I had to pay the fair in order not to give my grandmother a heart attack. People feel like once you're not on their level they can just walk over you.
A song that relates to the story above and egalitarianism is "Hurricane" by Bob Dylan. This song is based on a true is about a man (Rubin Carter) who was blamed for a shooting that happened in a New Jersey bar. He was in another part of town driving around with his friends. Rubin was pulled over and was taken the police because someone got shot. The person that was shot said he did it when in fact he was innocent. Rubin was arrested, He was a boxer and because he was imprisoned for couple months, his boxing career was put on hold. He later found innocent and was released. I'm happy for him because they didn’t find him innocent.
