The Root of it All

“I can’t believe what’s happened to this country,” a high school boy expressed to his friends. “We have a black man as our president, we have a woman running to be the next president, and worst of all, you can’t walk down the street nowadays without seeing two men,” he paused and made a face of disgust, “holding hands, or kissing, or some other pathetic thing.”

The boy, surrounded by four equally dull friends, directed his attention to a student nearby.

“I mean, just look at him,” he said, analyzing the student’s differences with ignorant scrutiny, “it sends shivers down your spine.” He shook his head before continuing. “Someone has to teach them that it ain’t natural for someone to live like that. Be rebellious as ya like, but being with another fella is too far.”

“Yeah, but what should we do,” a friend of his asked as he rudely picked at his teeth.

The leader of this group turned to them, and grinned.

The innocent teenager had just finished with his volleyball practice, when he discovered the five bigots waiting for him at his car. He saw them, knew their prejudices, and braced himself for something terrible.

They immediately charged the student with a disgusting barrage of strikes that broke both bone and heart.

The leader turned to the victim, lifting his bloodied face, as he said, “are you afraid, boy?”

He grew silent with an expression as solid as stone when he responded, “not as afraid as you.”