Today at the ever exciting SIUE Conferences and Institutes, we are celebrating Black History in all its glory at the beautiful Meridian Ballroom in the Morris University Center. Some of you may remember the Meridian from AHS Prom 2001. Over 300 people piled into one room at 11:30am to eat chicken and listen to several speakers talk about how far African Americans have come since the days of slavery.
Man, if we’re going to celebrate Black History, then let’s talk about how everyone should get along. Maybe I am a little biased because of the high school I went to, I don’t know.... but I am not racist... (although my roommates seem to think that I love the Confederate flag- which must mean I want to join the KKK.)
Firstly, I never said I “loved” that flag. I said I didn’t think it should be outlawed because that’s gotta be violating somebody’s freedom. I would like to say that the Confederate flag does not solely stand for slavery. YES, it stands for what was the Confederacy, who fought to keep themselves separate from the Union, who wanted to abolish slavery. But the truth of the matter is, it stands for some people’s heritage. It doesn’t necessarily mean that the owner fo the flag hates other races. Don’t get me wrong: I’m not condoning bad behavior, or discrimination. And now I am getting off topic....
The whole idea behind Black History Month is to celebrate the destruction of discrimination. And yes- black people have come a long way since slavery. However, I did not have slaves. My parents did not have slaves. My grandparents and the ones before them did not have slaves. So bottom line... I’m sorry that their ancestors were slaves. I’m glad they’ve come so far. It is now time for everyone to call it even. My race doesn’t owe anybody anything, except maybe a little respect- which they owe to us equally in return. People who refuse to believe this (white or black, Asian, whatever), are going against the very idea of racial equality. It’s a double standard.
No comments:
Post a Comment