Racism

       "Let freedom ring from the Stone Mountain of Georgia. Let freedom ring from Lookout mountain of Tennessee. Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring." Those are the words said by the one and only Martin Luther King Jr in his famous and powerful speech "I Have A Dream". His speech is one that invoked passion and inspiration into the hearts for black people wishing to be free and white people who saw that every person, no matter the colour of there skin or where they are from, should be given the rights and freedoms they deserve. Martin Luther King Jr. was fighting a battle that unfortunately is still continuing today. Racism is still present today though not in the same way it was all those years ago, it is still here. Racism takes a different shape then it did when Kings delivered his speech in 1963. Today racism comes in whispered and hushed jokes between friends. Snide remarks where people say the "N" word that I will not repeat, even on a blog. The funny part (not ha-ha funny, but ironic-funny) is that many people don't really mean what they are saying, consciously at least. There are dumb blonde jokes, your-mamma jokes and racist jokes. When many people repeat these jokes to each other they often don't mean what they say they are just repeating something that they found humerous. But the question we should be asking is why do we find them funny. The sad truth is that we, as a general population, have not completely rid our selves of racism. We hear the "N" word in hit songs and in most movies it is always the black person who dies first or who portrays the bad guy. Also, many teenager's parents are still slightly racist. Many people know it is wrong and they do not intentionally try to segregate anybody that is just how they were raised. If you go back only a few generations then you have people who grew up being taught and told by everybody they really met that black people and white people are different. To us this seems ridiculous but to them it was the way it was. That doesn't make it right it just means that for many they didn't know any other way of living. Those people had kids and taught them the same thing. Of course those kids grew up when people where starting to realize the stupidity behind this way of living, but no body can forget what their parents taught them so many still believed in even a little bit that they were superior. This "diluting" process has continued and will continue. 99.9% of our generation know and believe that black and white people are the same. We all have two eyes and a nose. We all need oxygen to breath and food to survive. We all feel pain, happiness and compasion. We all have a voice. But, unfortunately, the .1% exists.
    I believe that we will eventually leave racism behind but I think it will take a few more generations. However, I think having things such as Black History Month will not help. Remember our history is never a bad thing but if we make a big deal of it then it will show a difference between black people and white people and that isn;t what we want. I am not saying don't talk about it, I am saying remember it. Fighting racism is not a hard and fast solution is will take time but as the Martin Luther King Jr. said, "the whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges."