Ironically in AIS class we are talking about slavery and racism, etc. and we also have to interview someone for a project in AIS. Now, the person I interviewed is black and talked about the prejudice she came across in her hometown and in the north shore area. Really I find it disappointing because it seems like we (people) are still quite prejudiced in reality. Eliza (it's not her real name) said that in her hometown down south the prejudice was straight out, but in the north shore the prejudice was more subtle. If Eliza said hello to one of her son's teachers on the sidewalk, they would walk right past as if they hadn't heard her say anything. But this was around the 60's but she said that it has gotten a bit better, but (I guess to her, not too much better).
I hope that as a country we continue to get better at treating each other equally, not only on the streets but in every aspect. I definitely would not have liked living in fear everyday wondering if the KKK was going to hurt me or someone I know. Or being afraid to go out at night. Is that right? I don't think so. But maybe things will change now that Obama is in office. America was founded on the principle of equal rights, we need to stick to that.
Olivia-
ReplyDeleteIt's really interesting that prejudice on the North Shore was not as outright as that in the South. Silent prejudice might even be worse because the person has no idea who to trust, and discrimination can seemingly come out of nowhere. I think the North Shore has come a long way since then, but I still think things could be improved. Something we could do would be encourage open conversation about race-- not derogatory comments of course but open-minded discussion should be acceptable instead of a lack of communication.