Teaching Acceptance over Tolerance and Promoting Human Equality.

Hi everyone,

My name is Justin Kincaid and I’m the host of Film Fervor, a civil rights activist and a adamant defender of equality across the board.

I’ve always been an activist for civil rights and have found the open struggle for human rights and equality to be the only thing really worth fighting for.

Let me give you a little background about myself, I grew up in small towns throughout the great state of West Virginia, Wild Wonderful (Let’s go Mountaineers!). When we moved into one of these small towns, when I was a child, our neighbor considered us “good white folk” and frequently enjoyed our company. It turns out though, that he would rapidly change his mind about us when he learned that we were not “good white folks” but, in fact, Native Americans and Syrian.

This man was the Grand Dragon of the local Ku Klux Klan. Unbeknownst to me, when I went to his house to play with his son (as I had done for months prior), I would be assaulted and choked, nearly to death, for only being near his property with my “impurities”. This was my first introduction to racism and bigotry.

Now, I grew up without an official education. I was taken out of school in the 5^th grade and I was home schooled, and though I did do my own education and research the things I wanted to learn, I didn’t have a standard education as most people saw it. I believe this view of the world, one unbiased to the peer struggles of growing up in public schools, is what was instrumental in my mental growth into an adult.

I was not subjected to the racism, violence, sexism and cruelty of junior-high and high-school, I “missed out” on many of the things that people consider essential to growing up and becoming an adult. This lack of conditioning, the lack of indoctrination into the societal norms, allowed me to view the world from a truly neutral and unbiased standpoint. I grew up judging people by their actions, rather than their gender and race. I grew up judging people on how they treated others, not the color of their skin or their sexual preferences.

Now, I’m going to be very personal here for a moment and put myself out there for judgement and ridicule, however, I believe that if I am going to fight for the rights of others and promote truthfulness in the public and private forum, I need to also be completely honest about myself.

I am a heterosexual male. There I said it. As a heterosexual male, I enjoy certain privileges in the United States of America that people who identify as some other sexual preference do not. For example, I have immediate access to my loved one in case of an accident or an emergency. I don’t have to explain my sexual preferences to the medical personnel, it’s just assumed that I am with her and she is with me.

I can express my affection for my loved one in most social situations and not expect hostile or violent reactions from others. I can hold her hand or touch her in public without ridicule or snide, underhanded remarks.

As a heterosexual man, I receive an abundance of social acceptance by neighbors, colleagues and good friends. I don’t have to worry about pretending to prefer a different sexual preference in order to fit in.

I can raise, adopt and teach children without people believing that I will molest them or force them into my own sexuality. Additionally, I can legally marry the person I love. In fact, I know my basic civil rights will not be denied or outlawed because some people disapprove of my sexuality.

Yes, as a heterosexual male life is pretty good in the United States. Well, in certain circumstances. You see, as a heterosexual male it’s not acceptable for me to cry, or to feel emotional in times of vulnerability. In fact, it’s not acceptable for me to feel vulnerable at all. No, because I am a large framed and strong male, I am expected to be robotic and unsympathetic to the feelings of others. I am expected to lead and to make decisions in a moment’s notice, without feeling the pressure of self-doubt or discouragement.

I am expected to be a womanizer, who uses women to my own advantages and discard them when I am done. I’m expected to be the bread-winner and to provide for my family, and it goes without saying that I am expected to make a decent enough wage to, not only support myself and my immediate family, but also have enough disposable income to shower her in the gifts she needs in order to stay with me.

As a heterosexual male, I’m not allowed to reach out to others for emotional support or to talk to them about my problems. It’s not acceptable for me to ask for help for anything more in depth than repairing my car or moving a couch.

Additionally, it’s not socially acceptable for me to openly support women’s rights and women’s movements. My motives are always questioned when I say that I support equal pay for equal work, and giving more leading roles for women in action, horror or sci-fi films. It’s considered unique and interesting that I would dedicate myself to the support of women’s activism as a way to advocate and empower people to learn acceptance over tolerance.

I am a proud supporter of the He For She movement and I am a staunch advocate for equality in gender and race. I don’t see black men or Mexican women; I don’t identify you by your sexual preference or your gender. I see you as a fellow human being, struggling to get by in a society that stacks the odds against you if you dare to challenge the status-quo.

That does not mean I think we are all the same. We are not the same. Let me say that again, We are not the same. Believing that we should see everyone as the same is the root of the failure of our society and living in harmony. We are made of different colors and we have different cultures. We are different genders and different ages, with different views and different opinions. We are all different, and that is the beauty of humanity. In the quest for equality and fair treatment, it is especially important for us to recognize that we are not all the same and that is our differences that we should be celebrating, not our similarities.

It is the very reason for those differences that we should teach and practice acceptance of others. When I speak about equality, I am speaking about equal treatment for all human beings, not just for women and men. Not just for black and white. Not just for believers or unbelievers. I speak for equality for ALL of humanity.

Technology has connected us all at nearly every moment of our lives, but in that connection we are further apart than we have ever been. It is my profound wish that the promise of this world of connectivity and technology will illuminate a path to that place where we unite in the auspices humanity and set us, as a unified people, on a path of self discovery and enlightenment without the need for bigotry and hatred.

That is my hope for humanity.

Thank you.