Nash, Brandy: Diversity

Segregation has always been a very sensitive issue among the people of the United States, especially in the South. People of different races have not always lived civilly with each other in America. The people in the South depended on segregation to make a living. How? White farmers often owned slaves to do their farming for them. Was it right? No, it was not.

Years ago, if a human was not White in the United States, then that person’s life had little to no future. Most Southern farmers owned slaves who were comprised of different races. African Americans were the most common race to be imprisoned in slavery. Slaves had little to no rights, and they were property and often times treated cruelly. America has come a long way from segregation.

Although there are people today who still view different races as beneath them, segregation has died down a lot. In the Northern United States, it is rare to see traces of the brutal past that many people suffered because of segregation because everyone seems to live in accord with one another. However, the traces of segregation’s ugly history are still apparent in the Southern region of the United States. Different races down South live peacefully enough with each other, but it is not uncommon to see different races still looking down on certain races. 

Nevertheless, segregation in America is quite archaic. The old laws no longer apply. All races have equal rights. Whether or not people in America choose to uphold the laws that protect those rights is another thing entirely. Discrimination still happens, and it should not. Civil rights protect those that are discriminated against, and years ago it would not have mattered. Laws against segregation make a difference. Today, people are penalized for their discriminatory acts towards people. People like Martin Luther King Jr. made that happen. 

Speaking out about segregation like Martin Luther King Jr. did in his article “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” let people see the brutality of the matter. His words and the words of many others lead to a civil rights movement that helps protect thousands today.