Dear future president,

We share the US together as one to maintain the correct way of living. Like me, you have probably noticed the roles of our country in today’s time and have taken note that it hasn’t been reached to its full potential. I understand that you are here to take lead in whatever needs to be done to keep our country a splendid place to spend our lives. Today, I kindly take some part of your busy time to address a struggle that I have seen occur in everyday living that I believe can be resolved and justified.

Going about my days living in the city of Santa Clara in the state of California, I found my eyes lured onto the TV screen in the living room of my grandparents’ home. The news was about the horrific report of an African American named Michael Brown of Ferguson, Missouri being shot and killed by a white American police officer. The following days after, the news displayed videos of people protesting about how the life of this innocent citizen was taken because of his ethnicity. I couldn’t believe the knowledge gained from this terrible event. As a young child that I was then, I was blind. I began to realize how unjustified our country has always been.

Inequality exists because of many factors including: race, gender, abilities, stereotypes, and animals. It is normal for people to joke about these factors, and no one sees how these issues negatively affect our society. . People forget that America is a place of democracy and equality.

Because of this revelation, I have researched the many ways that equality is ignored. “Women working full time in the United States typically were paid just 80 percent of what men were paid, a gap of 20 percent” (http://www.aauw.org/research/the-simple-truth-about-the-gender-pay-gap/). Gender has its inequalities of gender roles. In addition, “About 30 percent of all completed suicides have been related to sexual identity crisis” (http://www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/gay-bullying-statistics.html). The percentage of suicides would have decreased if only equality was more significant to today’s culture. People can be whoever and whatever they want to be. We are all equal, and sexuality shouldn’t be a barrier. “The animals whose abuse is most often reported are dogs, cats, horses and livestock. Based on the 1,423 U.S. cruelty cases on pet-abuse.com’s 2011 digest in which species of the victim was specified: 70.1% involved dogs. 20.9% involved cats. 24.1% involved other animals” (http://m.humanesociety.org/issues/abuse_neglect/facts/animal_cruelty_facts_statistics.html). Animals are treated different than people because they're “just animals and they don't know any better.” Just because animals don't have the ability to speak or don't take form of humans, it doesn't mean that they don't have feelings or should be treated the way they are. These problems being addressed are only a tiny selected few out of many other equality problems in the world that are faced everyday.

Our country as you know is truly what you, our leader, make of it. Future president, you have the ability to change our value of equality. It’s up to you to decide whether you want us to live in a place of equality or inequality. I ask that you please consider my letter for the sake of our moralities.

Sincerely,

Kacey 

Santa Clara High School