Many students who are black, like myself, have heard about the uproar in Ferguson and the police brutality around the country. If any students are like me, they wonder in the backs of their minds “Could I be next?”

Even at school, where we are all suppose to feel safe and welcome, many students of color —  including myself — have felt like we are treated differently at times; like we have to compete for respect from our peers, our teachers, our administrators, and those who hold more power then us.

I constantly wonder what the outcome of cases like that of Trayvon Martin or Michael Brown would be if the races were switched.

Questions like these should not have to come to mind if “All men are created equal” was taken literally as it should be.

People should not assume that black people are armed and dangerous and attack them when nothing wrong has been done.

Even here at Eleanor Roosevelt High School, groups of black students face more scrutiny in the hallway than groups of white students. For example, I have noticed that after the first morning bell, some staff members appear to be more likely to reprimand groups of black students and often ignore groups of white students.

I find it surprising that in Prince George’s County, the most affluent predominately black county in the United States, blacks are still being discriminated against.

There have been times when my black counterparts are questioned by sales officials in stores if they “have enough money” to purchase more expensive and higher end items, or sales officials are told to “watch out for them” when we enter stores. I feel that whites are just as likely to not have enough money or steal from a store that blacks are, and that color of ones skin should not determine they way they are treated as a human.