The controversy surrounding Starbucks’s holiday cups exposes those who feel the need to attack efforts to include minority groups.

The idea that a cup could be so controversial is almost silly, but the issue surrounding the cup harbors a deeper meaning than just which colors and designs are used and has a certain kind of timely relevance.

In 2015, Starbucks released a two-toned red cup which embraced simplicity and inclusiveness. The blank slate design was intended to “welcome all of our stories.” This received an absurd amount of backlash from people angered by the exclusion of Christmas-themed elements. This year, on November 1, Starbucks released a green cup that features a continuously drawn mosaic of over 100 people, symbolizing unity. Though Starbucks’s message is clearly positive and welcoming to all people, there is still that classically negative type of person who has found controversy in the midst of acceptance, which is the same type of person who time and again does not take kindly to any positive change.

It’s clear to me that the anger towards this cup is actually fear, and I get why these people are scared. According to the Washington Times, about 9 percent of Americans celebrate Christmas, which means most people probably haven’t been exposed to other religious holidays, such as Hanukkah, Ramadan and Kwanzaa. These people see the cup as an unnecessary change that oppresses Christmas, but they should be seeing it as a way to express an open mind toward people whose holidays’ aren’t always acknowledged in the face of an incredibly Christmas dominant society. If people were confident in their faiths or beliefs in general, they wouldn’t fear the unknown, they would embrace it as an opportunity to learn something and possibly let someone else know that they’re accepting of whatever they choose to celebrate, and more broadly whoever they choose to be.

There really is no attack on Christmas. By saying that there is, people are giving in to the notion that inclusion is synonymous with the diminishing of another culture.

This one example within a wide spectrum of scared people is just another group who prove to be on the wrong side of history. As our nation progresses, some will reveal themselves as narrow-minded, so it’s each individual’s responsibility to be a positive agent of change to combat these ignorant individuals. Starbucks has done exactly that by converting their cups to welcome people of all faiths.

Instead of giving way to the inherent divisiveness that causes people to bash other beliefs in defense of their own, people should all pay attention to the precedent that Starbuck’s has set for them.