Was segregation really necessary??
By LaLa Leo
@mrscallands22 (2851)
United States
October 3, 2010 9:06pm CST
So... I've been watching movies about slavery and segregation most of the day... and I can't understand for the life of me... why it was such a big deal. Why should every business... every place.... be split up and set to where you had to be a certain color to receive service or to even enter the door?? I don't understand why hundreds of years was wasted on something so senseless and stupid. Movies like "Rosa Parks" and "Roots"... really burns me up. How could human beings hate other humans so much to the point where they don't even want them to have rights?? That is true hatred. I couldn't have lived back in those times because a lot of people would have been dead. I have NEVER been one that took to kindly to impolite words or disrespect. So, if I wouldn't have killed the "master".... he would've had to kill me. My people are so strong... to have withstood and overcame something like that. I love my culture... even though I am multicultural and I love how strong my ancestors were to bring me to where I am today. They would've killed to be able to say a fraction of the words that I am saying right now on this post. In my opinion, segregation was unnecessary and downright stupid. I wish that we could take it back... or someone would've been intelligent enough to view it as being wrong then... instead of waiting until now. It's so crazy how people lack compassion for other people... even all the way back then.
It'd be funny if segregation were to be tried today... lol. I would SPAZZ!
3 people like this
8 responses
@angelic123 (1108)
• United States
4 Oct 10
People Segregation? People are not garbage to be segregated. We are unique in our own way. No one is superior than the other. we are all equal in GOd's eye.
@mrscallands22 (2851)
• United States
4 Oct 10
You're right... we are all equal in God's eyes and created in the likes of Him.
Thanks for sharing!!
@mrscallands22 (2851)
• United States
4 Oct 10
I guess since I am not that type of person... I have never allowed myself to treat another person that way. I've always believed that you should treat others as you want to be treated.
@angelic123 (1108)
• United States
4 Oct 10
Maybe some people forget that we are all equal that is why they become racists or try to over power someone who is passive in character or who are willing to be put down...
@urbandekay (18278)
•
4 Oct 10
For us living these days it is incredible, yet most ancient societies practised slavery of both their own people and other people. History is full of such examples from many cultures. Greek and Roman society functioned only because of slaves. An entire English village was captured by African slavers. And millions live in India today in conditions of near slavery.
I have always admired William Wilberforce, the man that really started the end of slavery.
all the best urban
@urbandekay (18278)
•
5 Oct 10
Well, William Wilberforce was the man that bought about the end to slavery. He was elected as an MP and following a religious experience became an evangelical Christian. He fought a long battle to abolish slavery. After many defeats he eventually managed to get a bill passed abolishing the transportation of slaves, full abolition followed some years later. As Britain took colonies of other European powers we stooped the slaving there as well. America was many years behind in abandoning this barbaric practice.
all the best urban
@mrscallands22 (2851)
• United States
5 Oct 10
Wow.. that is so interesting to know and definitely something that I will be researching more about..
@mrscallands22 (2851)
• United States
4 Oct 10
William Wilberforce huh?? I have never heard of him. What did he do to spark the end of slavery??
Thanks for sharing!!
@rogue13xmen13 (14402)
• United States
4 Oct 10
No, it wasn't. It was dumbest thing that U.S. could have ever done. We live in a highly multicultural society, and people can't keep different races from each other. I think that people have to learn how to just live with each other whether they like it or not.
@mrscallands22 (2851)
• United States
4 Oct 10
I agree with you. The U.S. is becoming technically famous for focusing all of their energy on the wrong things.. hopefully someday soon.. they will wake up.
Thanks for commenting!!
@sid556 (30953)
• United States
4 Oct 10
Hi Mrscallands,
I remember segregation and how poorly the people of color were treated. Luckily my father was one that was very very against that and my brothers and I were raised to respect people for who they were and not judge them based on superficial things like color or sexuality etc. A real good read is the book, "black like me". It is a journal of a white man who made himself black and walked in the shoes of a black man back in the 60's. Discrimination is still very much alive even today. Sure, we've abolished slavery and the black people have the rights which they deserve but trust me, discrimination lives in the hearts of way too many people still. You can make all the laws you want but you can't change what people feel. Gay people are still being discriminated against. There is still discrimination against women also. We've come a long way from the days of segregation thankfully but we still have a long long ways to go.
@sid556 (30953)
• United States
5 Oct 10
Hi Mrscallands,
The auther of that book is John Howard Griffin. It is a really good book. In fact it has been years since I've read it and I'm almost done with the book I'm now reading. I may just go to the library and take it out and re-read it now that we are talking about it. Yes, my dad was very very wise and an amazing parent. He was very different from a lot of fathers back in the 60's. He was really ahead of his time. Trust me, I do know how lucky I was to have him as a dad.
@mrscallands22 (2851)
• United States
5 Oct 10
I may check that out after I finish reading "The Black House" by Stephen King. You ARE to lucky to have a father like that to set such a strong example for you (and your siblings) so that you know what to instill in YOUR children.
@mrscallands22 (2851)
• United States
4 Oct 10
I think I have heard of that book. Who was the author?? I think that it's great that your father raised you that way. Every parent should instill those values in their children. It sounds like your father was a very wise man. It just saddens me that people would hold something so minimal against a person...
Thanks for sharing your views!!
1 person likes this
@JenInTN (27514)
• United States
4 Oct 10
I recently took a Southern Literature class that was very intense. The authors that I read ranged from white slave owners to slaves themselves. The stories also ranged over a 100 year period. I think that everyone should take that class. Highschool should have it mandatory. There were not only cries from the black slaves but there were white people that wanted change and would suffer great punishment for fighting for it as well. Thank goodness those times are past. My south is haunted by those ghosts. I hate the thought that color made such a huge difference.
@mrscallands22 (2851)
• United States
4 Oct 10
Wow.. that class sounds pretty interesting. I became disinterested in Black history that they taught during Black history month because I knew it ALL by middle school. The same curriculum every year. It disturbed me.. and I would not participate. No one cared enough about it but to make poster boards and display pictures that all the students and teachers had seen over a million times. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Malcolm X. Louis Armstrong. Billie Holliday. Dorothy Dandridge. Maya Angelou. Dr. Daniel Hale Williams. George Washington Carver. Booker T. Washington. So many that I know them all. It became embarrassing.. and I have argued with my U.S. History teacher and was put out the class in my 11th grade year because I couldn't voice my legit, respectable opinions. Even if I raised my hand. I am glad those days are over as well. But, the question remains, what have we learned from it??
Thanks for sharing your views!! Have a nice day!!
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
6 Oct 10
No, it wouldn't be funny if segregation was tried today, it would be as ignorant now as it was back when it was a part of the world. I took a Freshman Seminar in college on the Civil Rights movement and I really learned a lot from that class. I learned to hate the fact that other human beings were treated as badly as they were and I also learned that there were a lot of very strong people that made the world what I've known in my life. A couple of my close friends are from a different ethnic background than I am from and I couldn't begin to imagine what my life would have been like had they not been able to be a part of my life.
@mrscallands22 (2851)
• United States
6 Oct 10
I agree that it was a terrible waste of time and we are all REALLY glad that it is over and just can only pray that history in that aspect, never repeats itself.
Thanks for sharing your views!!
@LetranKnight25 (33117)
• Philippines
4 Oct 10
I believe that was then before the law that proposed equal rights most specially for the black people. well, i think you are blessed that some how that doesn't count that much on this century. but unfortunately, in other countries, some of my people are not even allowed to enter some recreational areas. if they found that you're half this and that, you won't be allowed even if the area isn't full.@mrscallands22 (2851)
• United States
4 Oct 10
What country do you live in?? That is ridiculous!! And totally unfair. I hate to see people degraded, disrespected and not treated equally just because of their ethnic backgrounds or the colors of their skin. That is not an excuse to treat someone that way. If that were happening in my community today, I would be the first one to step up to do something about it. You should try, too!! I am sorry that it is that way for you. And, I will keep you in my prayers. I am multicultural... being mostly African American... having American Cherokee Indian and Chinese ancestors. I even have some White people in my family. Discrimination should not exist in today's time with how diverse everything is. Everyone is mixed with everything.. so we all have a little of everyone's blood coursing through our veins.
Thanks for sharing!!
@Brandon123578 (86)
• United States
4 Oct 10
Yeah i really find segregation extremely stupid. People were just so stupid and power hungry that they thought they were smarter than another race. Thankfully in todays society we have gotten rid of segregation. The KKK just needs dissolve because everyone hates them and they are the most hateful people in the United States.
@mrscallands22 (2851)
• United States
4 Oct 10
Segregation was stupid... and while our country was focused on that.. maybe we could've been focused on something more important and possibly be more advanced than we are today!! A lot of the population has a problem banding together with others that are just a little different from them... even if they aren't enemies. I am just soo glad that we are past that... it just angers me that we had to go through that at all. I wish that all of the black and white supremacist groups would just disappear!!
Thanks for sharing your views!! Greatly appreciated..
