The unheard stories in each of us

The New York Times did a feature article on Jacob Deng Mach, who, as a child, was one of the Lost Boys from Sudan sent to live in Georgia by the government to escape the violent shootings and attacks from the Sudanese civil war but had a difficult transition into civilized American lifestyle. Not only was the mentality and value critically different, but society didn't accept him as easily as they could have. While he went through military training, his officers often threw up their hands in exasperation and expressed their frustration at Jacob's struggle to follow orders.

For a time, this had a palpable effect on Jacob that presented a different kind of pain than wandering around Africa without a real home or family, a different kind of pain than living on one meal a day for 10 years, being chased by lions, or hiding from the shooters who made it impossible to live a single day with a sense of safety. It came from the dull, hollow, hopeless feeling that gnawed at his stomach whenever he felt alone, which was pretty much all the time. It came from the cold glances of people who judged before they listened, the people who gave up on him before they saw what he was capable of, the people who labeled him before they knew him.

This is an extreme case in which the story of the past is unfathomably disturbing, but deep down we each bury our past and feel the sting when people judge us without knowing our past. It is becoming increasingly difficult for immigrants to adjust to societies because people are becoming more and more closed in and unwelcoming to those who are different from themselves. But if we've learned anything from history, we'd know that this only creates harm. We fail to realize that intolerance harms not only other people, but ourselves as well. We lose the opportunity to learn from their stories, to connect our past with those of other people, and to contribute to the community by advocating diversity, unity, and equality.

I hope for the day when we can realize that everyone has a story, and that this makes us all equal rather than giving us the right to judge.