A United Nation Divided
Thomas Perez once explained, ¨Our workforce and our entire economy are strongest when we embrace diversity to its fullest, and that means opening doors of opportunity to everyone and recognizing that the American Dream excludes no one” (Perez). Recent events like the Paris attacks depict the terror that develops out of a lack of diversity, after one Syrian refugee participated in a murderous attack, many states within this country began refusing to take in the fleeing refugees. These frightened people are not the enemy; they too are terrified by the people the United States is trying to prevent from attacking this country. Further examples of our divided country include the country’s fear of its own fellow citizens, …show more content…
This overly optimistic view of equality for all is not fitting for this century, and if these naive citizens were to experience what day-to-day life is like in the projects of Chicago, they might change their minds on how close to achievement Martin Luther King’s dream actually is. Fleeting moments of hope and optimism occur, such as when the press swooped in to the Ida B. Wells, determined to make a change. LeAlan, one of the boys, explains the moment: “Everybody jumped on the bandwagon and said, ‘We’re gonna change things in the Ida B. Wells!’ ‘We’re gonna do something about these buildings,’ “We’re gonna do this,’ and “We’re gonna do that.’ But after a while everyone left, and nothing changed” (Jones and Newman 87). Hope is easier to envision than attain. Initiating change takes more than one spark, in this case, the death of a young boy. Martin Luther King was the leader of the fight to end segregation, and he too, witnessed people fired up to make change happen. He famously preached to thousands of people: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character" (King Jr.). He depicted a world far from reality today, even …show more content…
A large portion of the American people believe that racial equality is near: “When asked how much more needs to be done to achieve racial equality, 51% of whites answered that some or a little/none needs to be done” (PEW Research Team 628). Even though the incarceration rates for African-Americans are alarming, and the amount of police violence toward African-Americans is becoming more frequent and receiving an increasing amount of attention, people still believe we are close to, or have achieved, racial equality today. Two young boys, who experience such violence firsthand in the ghetto, shine light onto their situation. One of the boy’s grandmother's has seen the situation for the African-American population in the ghetto of Chicago change for the worse: “When I was growing up it was different. I grew up in the projects, but where we lived at we had open fields and spaces. It wasn’t a lot of gangs and guns and drugs then, so it was better for kids. We had a chance to play. Now my kids don’t have a chance to play” (Jones and Newman 95). Life has not changed for the better for African-Americans in the ghetto, it has evolved for the worse, much worse, without the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. A flashlight of a newspaper, a lantern of a human rights
Thomas Perez once explained, ¨Our workforce and our entire economy are strongest when we embrace diversity to its fullest, and that means opening doors of opportunity to everyone and recognizing that the American Dream excludes no one” (Perez). Recent events like the Paris attacks depict the terror that develops out of a lack of diversity, after one Syrian refugee participated in a murderous attack, many states within this country began refusing to take in the fleeing refugees. These frightened people are not the enemy; they too are terrified by the people the United States is trying to prevent from attacking this country. Further examples of our divided country include the country’s fear of its own fellow citizens, …show more content…
This overly optimistic view of equality for all is not fitting for this century, and if these naive citizens were to experience what day-to-day life is like in the projects of Chicago, they might change their minds on how close to achievement Martin Luther King’s dream actually is. Fleeting moments of hope and optimism occur, such as when the press swooped in to the Ida B. Wells, determined to make a change. LeAlan, one of the boys, explains the moment: “Everybody jumped on the bandwagon and said, ‘We’re gonna change things in the Ida B. Wells!’ ‘We’re gonna do something about these buildings,’ “We’re gonna do this,’ and “We’re gonna do that.’ But after a while everyone left, and nothing changed” (Jones and Newman 87). Hope is easier to envision than attain. Initiating change takes more than one spark, in this case, the death of a young boy. Martin Luther King was the leader of the fight to end segregation, and he too, witnessed people fired up to make change happen. He famously preached to thousands of people: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character" (King Jr.). He depicted a world far from reality today, even …show more content…
A large portion of the American people believe that racial equality is near: “When asked how much more needs to be done to achieve racial equality, 51% of whites answered that some or a little/none needs to be done” (PEW Research Team 628). Even though the incarceration rates for African-Americans are alarming, and the amount of police violence toward African-Americans is becoming more frequent and receiving an increasing amount of attention, people still believe we are close to, or have achieved, racial equality today. Two young boys, who experience such violence firsthand in the ghetto, shine light onto their situation. One of the boy’s grandmother's has seen the situation for the African-American population in the ghetto of Chicago change for the worse: “When I was growing up it was different. I grew up in the projects, but where we lived at we had open fields and spaces. It wasn’t a lot of gangs and guns and drugs then, so it was better for kids. We had a chance to play. Now my kids don’t have a chance to play” (Jones and Newman 95). Life has not changed for the better for African-Americans in the ghetto, it has evolved for the worse, much worse, without the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. A flashlight of a newspaper, a lantern of a human rights