Four days after 9/11 I learned to fear ignorance. 49 year old Balbir Singh was gunned down in his store. A few months later his brother was shot. Every year the list of victims gets longer.
Ignorance manifests itself as threats, as assaults, as murder, and it wins when it's left unchecked.
Ignorance is the dread, knowing that today is the day you're gonna get beat up at school. It's the nervousness when a car pulls up next to you. The paranoia as eyes glare when you walk down the street.
It's the nightmare of knives and baseball as you wait, trembling, at your job, hoping that you'll survive today.
Hate crimes still happen. But every day, I tie my turban.
Ignorance isn't news.
The stories that unravel it are.