It's what's in the heart that matters

It's What is in the Heart That Matters

Jason was late. He didn’t want to create a bad reputation for himself in the second week of his new school. People on the streets glared and shouted at him as he ran. He was used to this, even when he wasn’t doing anything stupid. He had just moved from Africa to his new neighborhood in America. Yes, Jason was coloured. He dealt with racism almost every day. He was bullied a lot in school, made fun of in public and had no friends.

His family moved to America because of how poverty stricken their neighborhood was back in Africa. There was only ten more minutes to school! Jason decided to take a shortcut through alleyway. He stopped right in front of the alleyway when he saw five bullies beat up an innocent kid. These were the same bullies who had beaten up Jason on his first day of school. Part of him wanted to run away, part of him wanted to stay and fight. At the end, Jason chose the most judicious option…. To fight.

“Stop it!” he shouted at the bullies. “Make us!” one of the bullies shouted back. The leader of the gang ran toward Jason and tried to punch him in the face. Jason answered back with a block and a jab right into the bully’s face. The bully collapsed, and his cronies saw this and ran for their lives. Jason had been learning kickboxing tutorials from YouTube for self-defense. Jason went to help the bullied kid up. The kid looked up at Jason. “Why would you help me?” he asked. “Why wouldn’t I?” I asked back. “You are coloured. After all the things we have done to you, you still came to help me. Why?” Jason told the boy, “You are white, I am black. So what? What we are on the outside is not important; It’s what is in the heart that matters”