Photos: Segregation in America

Regardless of political affiliation, we should all applaud Newsweek's willingness to start a much needed discussion within our society regarding race. Racism is alive and well in this country, and to deny this, is to be disingenuous to one's own conscious. All one needed to do, is attend the 9-12 rally in Washington, DC this year. Never mind that this date should have been reserved for the mourning of the 3,000 innocent victims of the 9/11 attacks eight years ago; rather we were subjected to the very well coordinated right-wing attack machine disguised as grass-roots, with the ginning up of blatant themes of racism, packaged as patriotism. Signs and slogans that read "What does Cleveland and Africa Have in Common? The zoo has an African, the White House has a Lyin' African" or "We didn't come armed..this time"; or my favorite, "A caricature of the President in black face holding a noose that read "Racist against White people",. Racism is indeed alive and well and there doesn't seem to be any shortage of it.

Individuals like Louis Gates race baiting incident and congress members yelling racism when they cannot articulate their point makes everyone a racist. Racism is used by the media to stir readership. Like the article posted, babies are racist at 6 months of age. The individuals who yell racism the most are in fact the ones who are the racists.
it has lost it's effect.

Racism is disgraceful, we should all just stop being so up ourselves and see everyone for who they really are. And thats just another human being. People should be judged on their actions, not their skin n anyone who is racist is narrow minded and pathetic

What shocks me most is the reacisim I see from people when they are in desperate situations. This happens from all sides, even from those who claim they are not raciest. I have friends from every walk of life that I have encountered, and I have been luck enough to get to know other cultures and see the light where I was raised in a semi raciest house hold that made few comments but still they had been made. We all need to realize we are all human. no matter what our outsides show or our backrounds. Kids need to be told you make a judgement about a person based on the person and not because they may be different then you. Maybe someday the killing will end and our children can know more about the world because they care about the humans that occupy it.

First of all there are also white people in the same conditions as well as some blacks as as far as Oprah she;s a fat black billionaire apparently you are one of those *** up white people that has a fear of blacks that has had a great amount of success in there lifes and as we can read in your dumb ass letter your afraid of one of us (BLACKS) running the world my advice to you is do us (BLACK) people a favor PLEASE go walk in front of a train little advise drink bleach first.

First of all there are also white people in the same conditions as well as some blacks as as far as Oprah she;s a fat black billionaire apparently you are one of those *** up white people that has a fear of blacks that has had a great amount of success in there lifes and as we can read in your dumb ass letter your afraid of one of us (BLACKS) running the world my advice to you is do us (BLACK) people a favor PLEASE go walk in front of a train little advise drink bleach first.

Oh my God, Tider.

When one thinks nothing much has changed simply view those pictures. They are worth a thousand words. I was a little white girl in the 1950's and raised in a mostly white (at that time) Boston suburb. I remember our high school class elections when a black woman was running for president. She said to me that she would never win because she was, as she put it then, a Negro. I was astounded that she would make such a statement. I thought about that continuously for many years and when I looked back I, of course, sadly realized she was absolutely right. I think even then, though, I knew she was right but I simply did not want to realize that would be true in the country loved. Much has been accomplished since that time nearly 35 years ago, but, I believe, we still have a long way to go.

There is, I think, something, perhaps, which is woven into our genetic tapestry to resist those who are not a member of our group. Perhaps it dates to the origin of man. We, hopefully, as years go by and decades pass will know that we are one species -- homo sapiens -- and that all of us, each and every one, can trace his or her lineage to Africa. We must learn to live together if we are all to survive together. I hope I see that in my lifetime.

I lived in a small north Georgia town until 1969 when my family moved to Hampton Roads Virginia. I have experienced a unique blend of deep south and mid atlantic. My father worked as the manager of the local movie theater in Ga., and I remember vividly the "side" entrance of the theater. African american patrons were only allowed to enter from the ally, and once inside they had to make their way up a narrow staircase to the balcony. Although I was very young I knew somewhere deep in my being that this was wrong and so I questioned my parents about this practice. I can not remember the exact answer but to sum it up they brushed it off as "the way it was". I can honestly say that I have never heard a racist comment come out of either of my parents mouth and in fact both were equally respectful and friendly to all, and yet it was wrong. When my family moved north to Va. times were changing rapidly and schools were being intergrated, etc. My mother had heard horrific stories about the situation and was very cautious. She put my brother and I in a private school for 3 months but was soon very comfortable placing us both back in public school. I felt enriched and blessed going to public school during this period. My point here is although many great things have come to pass since that volitle period in US history but much is left to be done. It is up to each of us individually to see past our unique differences and embrace our humaness. Spread a little love today of all days.

On picture 6 it states ''Latino inmates'' and as an Italian-American I find it offensive that the term and designation Latin/Latino has literally been taken over by Spanish and Portugese speaking peoples especially from Puerto Rico, Mexico, Central and South America. The Latin language and culture originated and devoloped in ancient Rome, Italy and by Julius Ceaser and Pompeii and if any people should be proud of and claim their Latin roots it is the Italians over any other people. I also find it offensive that the term Latin is made into a seperate racial identity for Hispanic people. I respect everyone's culture and I am not preaching prejudice or bigotry but Latin is a cultural legacy from Italy and credit should be given there.

On picture 6 it states "

I respect everyones culture and I do not preach prejudice or bigotry but as an Italian-American I find it offensive that the term and designation Latin/Latino has literally been taken over by Spanish and Portugese speaking peoples especially of Puerto Rico, Mexico, Central and South America. The Latin language and culture originated and devoloped in ancient Rome, Italy and by Julius Ceaser and Pompeii and if any people should be proud of and claim their Latin roots it is the Italians over any other people. I also find it offensive that the Latin term is being made into a seperate racial identity for Hispanic people.

We all need to educate ourselves with different cultures. We might look different, but in reality we are all the same. God made all the nationalities of his image, why destroy it. When we learn about other cultures we learn how to accept each other. We all have special qualities, its a beautiful experience. I grow up in a multicultural community, I grew up without indifferences. I had blacks, hispanics, hindus, whites, and other cultures living in one area. We need to stop hating what we don't know. Learn from each other, arm yourselves with knowledge and I will guaranteed that this world will be a better place. However, we all know that this a fantasy idea. We can succeed with our young children. Teach them well without discrimination, and to accept people for what they are, humam. I admire Dr. King for his leadership and he did have a dream for all African-Americans; that was to do good, to educate themselves to be successful, to stay out of trouble to work hard and to move mountains with the power of our voices and to not be afraid to take charge and help they neighbor. He also wanted us to continue what he had started a revolution of rightousness amoung all the little people that coudn't help themselves. I read that his dreams was not clarified, of course it was clarified, it was to countinue to fight discrimination against and to continue to fight for the same rights as all citizen of the United States of Americans and to emplement new laws that would give all african-american the same equal rights as white americans. Let's live the dream that started the movement and continue to strenghten our laws for a better America.

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WWW.MARTINLUTHERKING.ORG

The graphic photo of the black person being hanged broke my heart. I believe in God, and I believe that God created all men (and by men I mean men and women) equal. The color of one's skin means nothing in the eyes of God. Why mankind has chosen to segregate and hate because of the color of a person's skin is beyond my comprehension. White people are no better than black people, Hispanic people, Asian people or any other people. We all just need to do what God has told us to do .... love one another. However, I can see why some Americans are upset when they hear about programs for illegal immigrants who get money from the government to start a life here based on a fake social security card, or some other lie, and gaining access to programs that those of us who were born here don't have. That upsets me a lot, but not because of the color of the illegals' skin. It upsets me because I work as hard as or harder than anyone in America, and I've raised 3 kids, and I deserve the benefit of what my taxes pay for ... not someone who has come to this country illegally.