Since I wrote the previous article on Healthy Conversations on race, I’ve found more resources that are so helpful for understanding racism, it’s historical roots, and the attitudes that allow racism to continue. I’ll be honest, these resources have helped me understand the struggles of the modern African-American community, and it’s given me a greater sense of compassion for my friends who are a part of the majority culture. My eyes have been opened to the racism that still exists today. There have been some tears shed. Like many of you, I believed the lie that the schools fed me. I thought the civil rights movement got rid of most legal racism. I knew it didn’t stop people from being racist, but I didn’t realize that racism still existed in legal forms, but in disguise.Continue Reading
I Didn’t Realize…
I didn’t realize that I grew up in the middle of a time when segregation still existed. (Technically it wasn’t segregation since blacks could go to a predominately white school if they lived in the school zone. Practically speaking though, many schools were and still are segregated.) I was just a kid growing up in Louisiana. I didn’t know it was against the law to have black schools and white schools. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been to all-black schools, and I’ve been to diversely populated schools. I was very blessed to attend many different schools growing up.
I didn’t realize that my being bussed to a rural school in La, which was 30 minutes from my house, was a plan to diversify (integrate) schools. I remember there being alot of debate about it. I remember most blacks being unhappy about it, because it meant sending their children to schools in rural areas. (Areas which were not usually friendly towards people of color.)Continue Reading