Discrimination – Racism
Against
Coming from the South, I have a lot of first hand experience watching the effects of racism. I grew up listening to both sides of the coin. I have no facts and figures to back up what I'm saying other than the proof, which is common knowledge, that all humans are genetically similar. Thus, making it impossible for any one race to be genetically superior to another. We all have our genetic flaws passed down from our parents. We are all human.
I am going to talk to you about a small Alabama town known as Selma. Some people may never have heard of it. Others remember it very well.
Bloody Sunday…
On March 7, 1965, Selma made world news when state troopers and police used tear gas, clubs, and brute force against peaceful, unarmed, African-American protest marchers. This day became known as “Bloody Sunday.” This was before the National Voting Rights Act of 1965 made discrimination on the basis of race illegal and decades before I was born.
No one in my family participated in “Bloody Sunday”. No one joined in with the marchers or made a move to stop either those marching or those stopping them. From the accounts I've heard, the majority of the white people in Selma did nothing either way. Perhaps, doing nothing is what did everything.
The Selma to Montgomery March was more than just about “Voting Rights.” It was about the abolition of Jim Crow “separate but equal” laws and the RIGHT to be treated as any other human being.
Forty years later, I am here. I'm a Caucasian woman in my twenties and I grew up very near that little town, famous for nothing good. I say all this to show that I understand the devastating effects of racism on a culture and an economy. I can't say that I understand it from the perspective of someone who has experienced it first hand. If I have ever been discriminated against on the basis of my skin color, I am fortunate to say, I remain unaware of it. I have, over the years, spoken with many of those who have been. I have spoken with men and women who were present on the bridge that day in 1965 and who have been nice enough to share their experiences with me. I value the things I have learned from these conversations.
Desegregation and Integration…
Integration is the social de-segregation of a culture. When most often thought of, integration brings up memories of “busing” or the bringing in of black students to white school or vice versa. It was a social break-down of racism by forcing students into the same environment to learn about and from each other.
In Selma things have changed only marginally when it comes to integration of schools. Most white parents who can afford it will send their children to private schools once they reach about sixth grade. Others move outside the city to be zoned for Dallas County High School - which is an integrated school with a ratio of more white to black students. Very few within the city limits opt to send their children to the local public high school which is nearly 99.8% black.
Forced integration didn't work in our school system. For reasons that no one really likes to discuss, and that I do not know, the schools re-segregated themselves. Integration can not be forced. It has to be done willingly for it to work. It's a process that is slowly occurring, but that will have to take decades to be done fully.
In 2008, one private school allowed its first black student since its founding to enroll and attend. She is, at present, the only black student in attendance at the school. Hopefully, more will follow the example and our schools will re-integrate themselves.
Why?
I have learned that we are all human. There is nothing at all that separates us by the color of our skin. That is only a matter of genetics. What does separate us is culture. My culture as a white southern woman is the only thing that separates me from a black southern woman.
Culture, everything about it, is learned. Where best to change learned pre-conceptions but in an educational environment? I support people of all races and cultures learning from each other. By dispelling myths, we cut down on controversy.
Controversial Confederate Flag
Selma is also famous for its Civil War history. It was one of the main military manufacturing suppliers for the Confederacy during the Civil War. That is as much a part of its history as the Civil Rights Movement.
To get past the controversy we must first understand that the U.S. Civil War was not about slavery. That was an issue which led to it, but the war was not just about slavery. To prove this, read the Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln only freed the slaves in state's that withdrew from the Union - states where he had no enforceable authority.
The war was about the right of a state to dictate its own future - free from the interference of the Federal government. In other words, if the people of a state decided something then the Federal government should not have the authority to take that decision from the people. As wrong as slavery was, the civil war was about the state's right to lead and govern itself.
That is what we love about the Confederate Flag. It doesn't symbolize slavery. It symbolizes freedom from Federal rule. Most of the people who fought in the Civil War were too poor to own plantations with hundreds of slaves. They fought for the ideal of a people being able to rule for themselves locally and at a state level rather than from a federal governing body several states away who knows nothing of the people or the culture - a limited Federal government.
Slavery still exists in some parts of the world. Slavery is wrong in all forms. The Confederate Flag does not represent slavery. Most people who love the confederate flag do not display it with the malicious intent of offending others. They just want to take pride in their heritage.
Learning from History…
When I was majoring in history, I took an African American history class in Selma. It was an opportunity I have never regretted - though some of my friends, their families, and even some in my family, did not approve of what was being taught. It gave me the chance to see things from another perspective - one my own culture would have never given me.
Tell me what you fear…
As humans we so often learn to hate that which is different from us. We so often learn to fear that which we don't understand. We teach our hatred and our unfounded fears to our children - thus, continuing a cycle.
One of my favorite majors was always Anthropology - the study of culture. If you take time to understand someone of another culture, you learn not to fear it. You learn not to hate it. You learn to respect it for its differences. I think this is the answer to racism.
There is a non-fiction book by John Howard Griffin called Black Like Me. It tells about his experiences as a white man who dressed up as a black man and entered the South during the late nineteen-fifties. His perceptions were changed by what he experienced in the shoes of “another” man. I highly suggest it for reading.
Conclusion:
There are no significant differences that allow one genetic group to rule over another. No one race is greater than another. The differences we have are cultural and all cultural differences should be respected and not taken to heart if they are found offensive. What a symbol means in one culture may not have the same meaning for another.
We are all human - plain and simple.
Last Updated: October 8, 2008