College is a time for people to find themselves, a place for opposing ideas to clash in an academic way, not a physical way. With the recent events in Charlottesville, West Virginia, and across the country, we as the future of our nation have to ask ourselves if this is how we want the world to see us.

Are we a country of savages that believe in racial superiority and touting semi-automatic weapons as a solution to every conflict, or are we a nation that comes together and discusses our differences like a country that claims to be the leaders of the free world?

The Constitution of the United States of America states in its second paragraph states that “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.”

This country is for no one race of people, but for all races of people. This country is not White, nor Black, nor is it Hispanic, Asian or Middle Eastern; it is American. That’s the beauty of the American Experiment and that is why we as Americans have to work hard to make this never ending experiment work.

Nothing works perfectly the first time around, how would you compare your iPhone 7 Plus to your first generation iPhone? Over time refinements happen and things get better. So it is with our society.

What we can not do is revert back to old versions of our former selves because we are scared of not understanding the new versions of American Society.

Some people choose not to upgrade and suffer frustration from the rest of us with an easier and better life because we have embraced the change and learned to make life better because of it. That is not the fault of America, the progressives or any one else, but those who refuse to adapt to the times.

So is it with the alt-right, they see the country that has given them opportunity and privilege moving farther and farther to a balanced system, which it is by no way near, yet, and they are scared. They want to build walls and enact new laws to keep what they fear out, but fear is fear. The only way to not be afraid is to confront your fear face to face and deal with it, just as you would a fear of the dark or heights. Neither are going away, they are a fact of life that everyone had/has to deal with at some point.

For those of us that have embraced the changes of our parents and grand parents and wish to continue to see further reform, the struggle is not over. But our struggle is not one of violence, for our side is winning through non-violence.

Now is the time to not sit by and be complacent, when you hear some one refer to something as “gay” in a pejorative way call them out on it, if someone is using racial-slurs condemn them, you’d be surprised at how embarrassed some one gets when they are called out on their biases because the expected to be met with agreement and laughter.

Fullerton College is a community made up of many different groups of diverse people, no one group gets to claim it is Fullerton College unless that group is called Hornets.