Civil Rights Observation

The end of school features many exciting new changes for first graders as they look forward to the new year. With the too-hot summer days approaching, my house was the only place in the neighborhood that had a large, above-ground pool. It was kept at a cool temperature and we even had a slide. Needless to say, my house was the neighborhood hotspot for most of the kids. It was simply another early summer day packed with humidity and sunscreen when my best friend’s parents came to pick their daughter up. My friend Tiffany had her bags all packed and ready to go, and the entire family was ready to leave until they saw Rachel, another friend of mine who was African American, still splashing around in the pool with me. Tiffany’s parents made …show more content…
While racism was pronounced dead and gone with the end of the Civil Rights Movement, negative feelings are still harbored. Even now it is frowned up in the workplace to discriminate against other races because ‘we’re better than that.’ But evidence still leads to the contrary. While no laws reinforce obvious racism, people still contain hatred. Tiffany’s parents waited until Rachel, Tiffany, and I had all left the room before asking my parents about why they let an African American girl into the pool. I believe this is attributed to them believing that their belief system while flawed, is better than those other racists who are much more upfront about their hatred. Modern day racism has indeed changed since the nineteen sixties but by no means can we conclude that racism has been …show more content…
She lived in an lower income apartment building that was not known for being the safest neighborhood. Tiffany and her parents likely observed people seemingly affirming their beliefs. Their family saw one example of someone acting or behaving in a stereotypical manner and soon that stereotype was applied to all African Americans. To make matters worse, the way institutionalized racism functions makes it incredibly hard for an individual to break out of their caste so to speak. The wage gap prevents an entire ethnic group from earning the same as their white counterparts. And blacks are more likely to be imprisoned because of an unfair justice system than whites. The entirety of institutionalized racism adds up to more than just the sum of its parts. Racism may have shifted over the years from violence and slavery to separate but equal, and currently to the indirect attack on black liberties but the problem remains constant so long as it lingers in whispers among cowardly