Martin Luther King. Jr. Malcolm X. Mahatma Ghandi.

These individuals, among countless others, dedicated their lives to ending racism and racial prejudice in this world.

Now, CBS is taking their decades of dedication, work and progress and throwing it out the window.

On Aug. 23, CBS announced that “Survivor: Cook Islands” will divide participants into four tribes: Caucasians, African Americans, Asian Americans and Hispanics.

There’s not really any doubt on the factors behind CBS’s decision to air the racially divided show.

First of all, CBS, along with the other major networks, has been receiving criticism lately for having a lack of diversity in their programming. Secondly, with “Survivor” entering its 13th season in six years, the show has been declining in ratings, and this guarantees the show a gigantic ratings boost.

But one really cannot blame the ratings boost on CBS. Instead, that blame falls on those of us in the general public who tune in to the show. Many people find the premise to be horrible and unbelievable, but millions of people will still tune in to see how the show plays out.

The show is even drawing enough criticism that politicians are calling for its removal from the air. According to ABC News, John Liu, an Asian-American member of the New York city council, is organizing a campaign got CBS to take the show off its playlist saying that “it could encourage racial division and promote negative typecasts.”

CBS defends the choice to air the program because “‘Survivor’ is a program that is no stranger to controversy and has always answered its critics on the screen.”

In the last season of the show, tribes were divided based on age and gender, both of which are also controversial ways of dividing teams. However, neither age nor gender produced the backlash race already has.

Given the techniques of video editing that seem to occur with reality television shows, one question still remains unanswered. Will the editors of the show present the show in a way that is going to stereotype the different races?

If the editors of the show are ignorant enough to do this, the show deserves to be removed from the air, and the editors of the show deserve to be fired. Presenting a show where teams are based on race is bad enough, but promoting the prejudices people have dedicated their lives to is unthinkable in my mind.

While the common person may not be able to organize a political coalition like Liu, we can all help to fix this problem with one easy remedy. Do not watch the show.

I know that many of us are interested in the premise and wrapped up in the controversy enough to make us want to watch, but that only helps CBS and does not show them that what they are doing is an insult to the intelligence of their viewers.

Respect the work that our predecessors in history have done to end racial prejudice and do your part to help by avoiding “Survivor: Cook Islands” at all costs.