This last Tuesday, Eggs and Issues was happy to present Donna Gehrke-White, author of The Face Behind the Veil: The Extraordinary Lives of Muslim Women in America.

Her eye-opening account of Muslim life in American culture was received by a record breaking crowd of 150 students in the Fulkerson center.

Her testimony of the average life of the Muslim women made it apparent that we understand so little about our neighbors, our doctors; the very educated women living all around us.

We’d love to be able to say that every human is the same. We all get equal treatment, and we all have the same goals and motivations.

We believe this, and we are, in fact, the stereotypical “ugly American.”

Every human is not the same.

People cannot be categorized and filtered through our neat little cubby holes and cubicles.

Regardless of race, age, gender or culture, every person on this planet is unique and special.

Each of us has our own dreams, our own past, our own future.

Stereotypes evolve through repetitive experiences with the same kind of person, so sometimes stereotypes can be accurate.

Sometimes they are not.

There’s a chance that you fit your nationality’s stereotype, but then again, don’t you deserve the chance to show your uniqueness?

Aren’t other people missing out if they don’t give you a chance? It’s likely.

So let’s grow up and see past the petty into the depth of people around us.

Who knows, they may offer us the same kindness.