"You can't go on tonight... your face ain't black enough"
"But if I don't get paid tonight I'll starve!"
"Excuse me? Rub on this coal, or I'll make sure you starve!"
"Okay, Sir."
In a time where minstrel shows were entertainment, and restrictions due to Jim Crow Laws were an everyday occurrence, blacks had it tough. It's been 141 years since the passing of the 15th Amendment was supposed to grant blacks equal rights. By finding loopholes, primarily in southern states, blacks were treated no different after the abolition of slavery in the 13th Amendment, and it was all in legal accordance to the various laws generalized as the "Jim Crow Laws".
The Blind: The board of trustees shall. maintain a separate building. on separate ground for the admission, care, instruction, and support of all blind persons of the colored or black race. (Louisiana)
This type of discrimination just sounds ridiculous now! Who would ever do that? And in the words of Mrs. Cardona, "Woah, dude, that's crazy!"
Then why do I still see discrimination like this regularly? Saying "I'm sorry I wasn't sorry" can't make up for how were treating an entire race in the 18th, 19th, and bigger half of the 20th centuries.
The firestorm I have witnessed the past couple months concerning a group of Muslims wanting to build an Islamic Center in Plymouth is way past absurd. I read countless letters by uneducated citizens, published in the Star Tribune and Sun Sailor explaining in their own demented way that we can't allow this Islamic Center to follow through, because these people were the people behind 9/11. In reality, all they want is a space to practice their religion.
Yes the Jim Crow Laws came and went. However it seems we didn't learn anything from them! Wake up America, I thought we were better than this. We're acting like the immature 141 year-olds whose idea of entertainment was minstrel shows.
Sincerely,
An Emotionally Charged WHS Senior.
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