Badou Toure

Mrs. Intawiwat
ENG 111
August 26, 2016
This I believe: Tolerance
I believe that tolerance among humans can put an end to most of the
conflicts we are facing today. Most conflicts we are facing are based on our
ability to accept others beliefs, cultures, or lifestyles. Several years back I
wasnt tolerant myself, I tended to have negative comments about things
that I didnt understand, until something happened that made me a tolerant
person. From there on both my lifestyle and social skills improved because I
became a better person.
My first year in the united states I was in the 8th grade, my English
teacher and I got closer over time. Before I realized he was more of a mentor
to me than he was of a teacher. Hell sometimes take me and his nephew
and nieces on museum tours and high school orientation, he even took us to
an amusement park once. My first year in the united states was socially
complicated the other kids made fun of my accent and habits at times, but I
didnt care much because I knew about bullying and decided not to let it get
to me. In the middle of the school year he announced to the class that he
was getting married, and one of my classmates asked who is the lucky

lady?, and he responded that it was a man. The class went quite for a while,
it had to be the most awkward moment of silence in my life. Not just me but
the whole class was out of words for at least 3 minutes, until one of the girls
said congratulations then we all began to congratulate him.
I didnt understand, I was in the midst of confusion. Dont get me wrong I
kind of knew what homosexuality was but I didnt understand his case. At the
time I believed in the stereotypical traits of male homosexual, I thought they
were highly feminine. But I was wrong. I thought those things because in the
culture Im from its believed that homosexuality is wrong, and should not be
supported in any form. Some even go as far as saying that homosexuality
will lead the world to its end because people with the same sex cannot
reproduce among themselves. Africans tend to be religious, and its believed
that most religions condemn homosexuality. My teacher was a contradiction
of what I believed about homosexuals, he was just like every other guy that
Ive ever known. Some homosexuals have traits that give away their sexual
orientation, but he didnt have any of those traits, which was the reason why
I was confused. After some time, I realized that he has always been a good
person to me, and his sexuality shouldnt change how I viewed him as a
person. I also notice that how I felt about his sexuality wasnt his problem but
mine, so I decided to learn about acceptance.
As I grew older my vision got wider, I was seeing the world differently and
I understood others more. Acceptance makes the world a better place it
allows us as humans to come together and focus about our similarities rather

than our differences. The world lacks decency, we should all teach our kids to
accept each other for the simple fact that we are all human beings who are
supposed to cohabitate with one another in harmony on the same planet.
Religious and cultural differences have separated most of us, and created a
tunnel vision.
In brief, I believe that tolerance can give a broader vision to a person.