In the words of South Park fourth grader Eric Cartman, gingers (a.k.a. pale, freckle-faced redheads of suck) are soulless and sun-avoiding freaks. In other words, they’re vampires – just without the fangs, the coffin, or the Edward Cullen sex appeal.

Nearly 5,000 teenagers affirmed this maxim when they clicked “accept” to a 14-year-old’s South Park-inspired Facebook event. Although many rejected and condemned the invitation, the rest became attendees and kicked a ginger on “Kick a Ginger Day”, November 20. Across both the U.S. and Canada, these compliances resulted in the verbal and physical abuse of thousands of innocent, red-headed victims.

Those of the Los Angeles school district were no different. At A.E. Wright Middle School, three boys and four girls suffered undeserved assault, with a substantial majority having been taunted, punched, and kicked on that Friday. The perpetrators of the harassment are currently facing mere disciplinary actions, ranging from paper-pickups to five days of suspension.

Young adolescents’ susceptibility to a bully-clique mentality  may shock many. After all, who would have suspected that a small wave of peer pressure could give way to a new great flood of “Redhead Bashing”? Simple: “Kick a Ginger Day” is just another rationale for kids to put others down to make themselves feel more secure.

Sadly, MSJ students do not escape this pitfall. More often than not, this reiteration manifests in cyber-invitations to “hug” rather than to hurt. Although seemingly harmless, with events such as “Hug an Asian Day” or even counter-event “International Hug a Ginger Day”, Facebook invites typically compel members to focus on differences rather than on similarities. And, really, what is the difference between “Hug an Asian” and “Kick a Ginger”? Both segregate a minority in an act of otherization (the categorization of the “other” from the “us”), and this mentality fuels a cycle of hate crimes.

And in the Internet realm, with examples like AIM conversations, rude invectives are often quickly followed by innocent smiles and JKs, technology has definitely taken a turn for the worse.

The only thing for sure is that something like “Kick a Ginger Day” should never be allowed to occur again. After all, people are just people. No matter your ethnicity, ideology, or hair color, we as human beings are all equal.