Race is a subject that should not be thrown around willy-nilly; it is a delicate subject with real, powerful meaning.

Even me and my fellow student journalists here at Eastern are taught to not mention race unless it is pertinent to the story.

So I want to apply this logic to the “Little Mermaid” debate that has struck the public for no reason: By that I mean the whole argument is stupid and should not be taking place.

Halle Bailey (who has been cast as Ariel) is unfortunately caught up in an argument fueled by ignorance and flat-out stubbornness by those unwilling to accept one, people of color, and two, the fact that society is changing.

Ariel was originally white in the movie, yes, everybody knows that, but her race is not pertinent to her journey to falling in love with a human.

If a black man were ever cast to play Abraham Lincoln, for instance, then there is an issue there because Lincoln was white.

That is an actual situation where the race of the actor should matter to this extent.

Otherwise, it does not matter.

Ariel is not a real person, much less is she a real creature.

She is a mermaid Disney made up, so what does it matter if the actress is black or white?

I believe I have seen people promoting (on social media) petitions to remove Bailey as the actress.

These are petitions are nothing but proof that there are a lot of people who need to quite simply grow up.

They should really just learn to be accepting and put their inhibitions aside for a topic so simple and harmless, but I equate that to them just needing to grow up.

Act like the bigger person and let it go, and accept it for what it is.

Another part of this, I believe, is white people being scared of losing their grasp on controlling society.

This I have also seen some mention on social media, but I think it is true.

With society gradually becoming more accepting of more races and other demographics, that means a certain group of people have less control over what they can control.

People, to this day, still say Barack Obama was the worst president and was not qualified to be president (because of where he was born or some stupid thing).

The fact that subject is still a topic of discussion for some, and the fact people are worried over the skin color of a fictional character, shows acceptance is still not where it needs to be.

More than that, I think it is a sign white people are holding on to insignificant topics because they are worried that minorities will soon “take over.”

That should not matter, but it does.

And Ariel, unbeknownst to her, is in the middle of the argument, though she should not be.

Come on everybody, Michael Jackson said it best, it does not matter if you are black or white.

Dillan Schorfheide is a senior journalism major. He can be reached at 581-2812 or dtschorfheide@eiu.edu.