An Awakining To The World Of Inequality Essay, Research Paper

ENGLISH PAPER #1

There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance.

Socrates (469 BC – 399 BC),

We live in an era, centuries after African Americans, Native Americans, Jews, and women have struggled, fought, and died for their rights and freedoms. We feel we are a civilized nation in which we have made technological, political, and economical advancements. However, there is much violence in this world, most I do not fully understand. However, I do understand the motivation and basis for much of this cruelty. As a culture, we cannot overcome our differences with each other. Many people are rooted in their beliefs and refuse to be tolerant. For years their family, community, and society ingrained into them a hateful way of thinking. The world is not color blind, and does not want to be.

Children are the most innocent of all. They are born without bias and prejudice. Then they come into this world, are swayed by their parents, and the hate and intolerance is then instilled in them. Some go to schools and learn that they are not the same as other kids. They learn to fear by avoiding those unlike them, by segregating themselves and being ignorant of each other. They do not think for themselves. They are the product of bigotry.

When I was a child, we lived in an integrated neighborhood. All the kids played together regardless of color. I did not know black and white. They were my friends. If someone had asked me what the difference was between my friends and I, I would have told them that I was shorter, and had lighter hair. I would have said that they were faster, and bigger than me. I would not have said that I was white, while they were black, because to me, we were the same.

A baby-sitter was watching me while my parents were away when I had my first black/white realization. She and I were watching TV – a soap opera. The baby-sitter turned to me and said I hate it when they mix blacks and whites on these shows, it s sickening. Her wording was a bit more offensive, but somehow never hearing the word I knew of whom she was talking. I sat there and looked at her. I had never met this person. She didn t know me, and yet she was telling me that some people were different from us. They were less than us, and did not even belong in the same television show. Who was she to tell me that one person was better than another? At first, I did not know what to say or feel, but there was a burning in me I had never experienced. I realized much later that it was shame. I was embarrassed to be like her. We did not come from the same family, but she and I were alike, and I shared her indignity. I was young and I had never known a difference between races. However, I now knew that I had friends who were not like me. Yet, did I defend them? Did I tell her that everyone deserved the same treatment? I said nothing, and that is the one of my greatest disappointments. I had the chance to stand up for what I adamantly believe in and I was silent.

Another reality-check upset me a few years later. My family had moved to a suburb much less integrated then my previous residence. I was in seventh grade, about thirteen years old. Our team was playing a middle school football game, close to where I used to live. The game was close, but my new school prevailed. On the bus, getting ready to leave, our team was yelling at their team. The we won and you didn t sort of thing . Then two black players walked by. Our team started shouting racial slurs out the window. These kids who had played just as hard, had the same mud, sweat, and blood on their uniforms, were treated with disrespect and contempt.

Now I can hardly imagine that those kids on the bus, who had grown up in a predominantly white, secluded neighborhood, ever suffering ridicule by a black person. Still, they felt the need to put them down, not because they were mediocre athletes, but because they were black. The kids on the bus were punished, some by the school, some by their parents, some by both. However, I am convinced that several of those children went home and their parents gave them a pat on the back. This is the core problem with humanity. Racial discrimination passes on from generation to generation, as a genetic disease for which there is no cure.

I was enraged. I couldn t understand why people were so heartless and cruel. No one may ever call me names, humiliate, ill-treat, or harm me due to the color of my skin. I may never suffer the degradation first hand, but this malevolence was directed toward people close to me. My anger was not as extreme as bell hook s killing rage, but I did not have to go through the experience myself.

I now come to this school, known for being liberal, thinking that it will be more ethnically diverse then my previous school. I look around and find myself in the same situation. Although this is not some suburb town with its long tradition of exclusiveness, it seems as if everyone has their own groups, and amalgamation is unusual.

My point is that segregation and racism is still a large part of society. Moreover, it is the reason and motivation of many incomprehensible events that occur each and everyday. So many hate crimes result in death and heartache. One particularly horrible and publicized hate crime was the murder and beating of 49-year-old African American James Byrd, Jr. In 1999 two men, John King and Lawrence Brewer tied James, by the ankles, to a pick-up truck and dragged him over three miles of asphalt. After running over an open drain tore off his right arm and head, James died. (52-54)

I bring this up only because I feel civilization cannot improve or advance until events like those mentioned above no longer find their way into our everyday life. hooks said that all African Americans need to come out and declare their rage. I say all people need to listen to their children. They know the true meaning of peace and friendship. They may call each other names, but their mockery does not come from been immersed in the intolerant sludge on which our country was built. Parents should teach them to encourage diversity and not to fear it. Parents should them it is all right to be different, that each of us brings our own unique qualities to better humanity. These children will grow up and inspire their children to be more accepting, and eventually the old tradition of intolerance will die off with those who are impervious. One may ask, what can I do, I m only one person? I say to you, every waterfall begins with only one drop of water.

People have resisted oppression with much progress for the last fifty years. However, when it comes to how individuals feel, we still have much advancement that needs to be made. No other social, political or any other development can be truly appreciated until we learn to respect and care for each other. We have to get over our preoccupation with color, and shift our focus to things that are more important. We need to be color-blind because, after all, we all look the same in the dark.