Hi. My name is Amy Bell Kwallek. By socially and politically acceptable definition, I am a single, straight, white female from Lancaster, Wis. I am a student majoring in communication technologies at UW-Platteville and I work three jobs. But first and foremost, I am a human being.

On Nov. 30 there was a campus-wide open forum to discuss the issues of hate that are the topic of much conversation on this campus. I had class until noon and was not able to hear the first half of the forum, but what I did hear was somewhat comforting but conversely frustrating. I chose not to speak because I did not hear all of the previous discussion, but I am speaking now.

First, I would appreciate it if people wouldn’t assume that I don’t know better, that I don’t understand racial, sexual or gender differences because I grew up in a small town of only 4,000 people and am only 19 years old. I have close friends that are from the Philippines, Germany, France and friends that are black. I am one of only a handful of Americans who can speak another language fluently. My cousin and best friend are gay; my circle of friends has just as many guys as girls and I am a woman at a dominantly male college. I have been to major cities in the United States, I have worked in retail and I have seen people so poor they have to steal for food. Don’t assume that I don’t understand, that I don’t know better. Being from a small town is not an excuse for hatred, and it’s not a reason to dump the blame of intolerance on a person. There are ways to educate yourself on tolerance and avoid ignorance.

I don’t think that the largest issue at play here is intolerance of others who are “different,” I think the largest issue is the intolerance of unity. When people say our campus is this percentage white and this percentage people of color we are only contributing to the ignorance. Our campus is not merely black and white. Our campus is not just homosexual and heterosexual. These are not things that make up our campus community. Students, professors, administrators and staff are what make up our population. Human beings learning, teaching and working together for the betterment of our society are what constitute our population. So I would appreciate if speakers would address me as a human at this college and not just a member of the white majority.

If we keep separating ourselves from our peers and colleagues based on race, gender or sexuality by saying that we are white or black or gay or straight, we are only expanding the gap between tolerance and intolerance. Attributing our physical differences as the cause for our mental lapses of judgement is only strengthening the idea that these people are different from you or me and they just simply aren’t. We are all adults capable of rational thought and, essentially, we are hating on each other. The first step toward stopping this intolerance and ignorance is working toward unity.

I am not saying that in order to gain unification we must forget where we came from or our heritage and customs. I am saying that when we face issues of racial, sexual and gender discrimination we need to bond together and realize we are all the same people and when someone makes a comment based on someone’s color of skin or sexual orientation we should all take it just as personally because we are all human.

It is clear that these ideas are a much bigger issue than what is going on at UW-P. This is something that requires world wide acceptance that people are not different, that we are all first and foremost humans.

People who are straight and white are not the only ones with the intolerance. We are all responsible. It’s time that we remove the blame on ignorance and intolerance from people because of color or sexuality, and start focusing on the ignorance and intolerance of general humanity.