The recent shooting of three men, two of them Garmin engineers from India, that happened at Austin’s, sheds light on the harsh reality of the discrimination and prejudice still very evident in America.

It’s not that racism and hate crimes weren’t relevant in our society a few years ago. It’s always been an unresolved problem in our country, but the recent election, immigration ban, and hate-driven shootings have gotten a lot people to start confronting the problem.

This local shooting has just further opened our eyes to the vicious truth that is that hateful prejudice still resides in the hearts of many people in this country. To say that this shooting was just driven by alcohol, misplaced anger and mental instability is to shut our eyes to a problem we find too uncomfortable to address.

Jewish cemeteries have been vandalized in Philadelphia; anti-Semitic messages have been scrawled across a high school bathroom in Minnesota; a couple terrorized a black child’s birthday party with Confederate flags, armed threats and racial slurs. These are only a few recent examples of the reality of racism in America, and thankfully none of those ended in fatality. The same cannot be said of many more violent incidents that have occurred over the span of the last few years, now including the shooting at Austin’s.

It’s difficult for most people to imagine having racial slurs yelled at them while they’re trying to enjoy a conversation at their local bar, and yet it happens.

These men who emigrated legally from India were told to go back to their country and then were shot, and yet people are still unsure whether or not to rule this a hate crime?

A man was literally killed because of another person’s refusal to accept his race and right to be in this country.

America is supposed to be a “melting pot” where people of all races, cultures and religions can unite to celebrate liberty. “The American Dream” is that anyone can emigrate from their homeland in search of better opportunities, so to try and deprive people of that opportunity for success based on where they were born or the color of their skin not only tarnishes America’s basic ideals, but perpetuates a long pattern of oppression.

Whether someone be Jewish, Muslim, black, Indian, or any other minority facing discrimination in America, that person deserves an equal opportunity to find success in a hopeful country, not to face hatred and the fear that one moment he might be having a drink with a work friend and shot at the next.

The stigmatism against immigrants in America should not be normalized or accepted. The horrified response from the community shows that the majority of people do not share this gunman’s ideals and that this behavior will not be tolerated.

Now more than ever, people need to speak out and act, like the man who risked his life to step into the situation at Austin’s, to help put an end to discrimination and gun violence in this country.