Racism

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    The issue of race has become a topic of extreme contention. The murder of George Floyd has once again reminded the American public of our nation's dark history as an inhibitor of free will and happiness--the very values our founders set out to protect. 

    I, like many, was previously under the impression that racism was forced into the minds of the rural and the uneducated, but, like many, I was wrong. 

    
    Just because institutional racism may be a thing of the pat (i.e. racism written into law), does not mean that racism on the individual level is any less prevalent. 

    I believe that the American school system offers a dangerous spark for many of the discriminatory tendencies that plague our world today. 

    Speaking from my personal experience, the topic of slavery was covered extremely briefly. My impression of the event was "it happened and then it didn't--and, maybe, they had a war about it along the way." My first introduction to the topic of race was that it could somehow make someone inferior. 

    My teacher then went on to praise the seemingly divine words of the Constitution and the infallibly democratic structure of the US legislature. It was dangerously easy to assume that slavery was another one of the Founding Fathers' incredible ideas, and that it had just mysteriously faded out of existence. 

    I believe that a world that is more inclusive starts in a school that is more inclusive. When dealing with the dark side of history, it should be of utmost importance for the abhorrence of these actions to be apparent. 
    

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