Every Monday morning, I wake up and go to class on scholarships and student loans that I’ll one day have to pay back. I sit in class all day with a majority of people who look like me, many of whom receive significant financial aid to get an education at a premiere university.

When I walk in the hallways and across the Brickyard, people don’t stare at me because of what I’m wearing. I’m not wearing a hijab. I’m not expressing my culture in my clothing. People simply walk by without passing judgement. 

If I am wearing clothing that proclaims my faith, other students just brush by, because a majority of them practice the same faith as I do.

I pass by university police cars, Raleigh police cars, mounted horse units and every other type of law enforcement every single day. I can have a hoodie on, and they probably won’t flinch. I can lower my head as I walk by, and they probably won’t flinch. I can approach them, ask them for help and they probably won’t feel threatened.

I’m not mocked for my sexuality. I fit what many still consider the “traditional” mold of what relationships should consist of.

I don’t feel threatened or harassed by the Brickyard preacher. I can walk by without drawing his attention and grab my lunch from the Atrium without being confronted with scathing words.

I get to vote in November without worry of politicians bending the rules to make it more difficult for me to cast my ballot. No individual or political party will target my ethnic group with surgical precision.

I can post #BlueLivesMatter on Facebook and immediately get dozens of likes and comments talking about the merits of police and how the men and women in blue are being oppressed. 

I can post #BlackLivesMatter on Facebook and immediately get dozens of likes and comments talking about the oppression of African-Americans face in society, without directly feeling attacked or persecuted by any member of the #BlueLivesMatter army.

In fact, I can post almost anything that I want on social media and people will respect my opinion, even if they don’t necessarily agree with it.

I can vote for Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton and a majority of people wouldn’t berate me for whatever decision I make. I’d be told, “It’s your vote, do what you want.”

I’ve had the ability to change my views on race-relations since I arrived to NC State as a first-year student and I haven’t received any negative comments from those I know back home.

I have the ability to remain silent in instances of injustice because the injustice isn’t directed toward myself, my ethnic group, my religion, my socioeconomic class or my sexual orientation.

My name won’t be a hashtag tomorrow, next week or even next year.

The time has long passed for us to do something. Staying silent is getting people killed. I’m not the spokesperson for white people, nor do I wish to be, but neutrality cannot be tolerated anymore. Something has to change, and we have the privilege and ability to help make it happen. We cannot pretend that this isn’t an epidemic.

Liberty and justice doesn’t just apply to some of us.