Racial Rant

Scanning the CNN headlines, I saw one pertaining to the KKK. I was shocked that as I clicked on the link (http://www.wdsu.com/news/17956884/detail.html) , it took me to a New Orleans website. The location of the story was based in Covington, Louisiana, not far from New Orleans, a city on the north shore of Lake Pontchatrain.

I am learning every day just how naive I am. I know that there are bigots and racists in this world, and I know that the southern states are traditionally known for racism. Being white, racism is something that I have never really experienced, and to be frank, was something I thought very rarely about until my senior year of college. I have been raised to believe that people are people regardless of race, ethnicity, gender or religions. I must admit that social stereotypes have integrated my thought process; however, I think my awareness towards those thoughts is a progression away from racism. Awareness is essential in the move towards change.

Unfortunately, not everyone shares this awareness. I assume that everyone has had parents who have taught them to respect others, to embrace differences, but that is just not the case. It seems hard to believe that in a time when our next president is black, mixed, half-caste (as one of my students with Jamaican heritage says), or whatever you want to call it, that the KKK is alive and growing.

A few weeks ago after an Americorps outing in the French Quarter, two of our members, one black and one white, were walking back to the car. A big SUV with a Texas license plate pulled up next to them. A woman, obviously drunk, fumbled with the door handle, and finally wrestled it open. She began shouting at the young black man, a good citizen who serves his country in Americorps. She shouted racial slurs, and probably inferences that would have scared and angered me. He could do nothing. Had he responded, he probably would have been beaten up, ended in jail, or worse. All he could do was stand tall and wait for the car to leave.

When I first was told of the program that Delgado has in the prison, I put my foot down. Okay, not true. I considered it. After numerous conversations with my friends and parents, I decided against it. Mostly, I would say, because they painted a picture much different from what I envisioned. In their eyes, moving to New Orleans was risk enough; surely in prison I would be working with animals, not humans. Their fear and insecurities infiltrated me, and I conceded, overlooking the benefits that a G.E.D. program could provide.

After talking to the teacher of the prison class, I wish in some respects that I had refused to let fear make the decision for me and had followed my instincts. Many of the students in the classroom are young, black males, and as the teacher said, "I was doing the same things they were when I was 19, except I wasn't a black male, so I didn't get caught." A powerful thought, isn't it? I won't say that I am disappointed I don't work in Conchetta, but the point is this: something is wrong with that picture. The lower one's education level is, the more likely a person will find himself in prison. If the purpose of prison is to deter someone from committing crimes, why is it so unsuccessful? Why do so many of those released from prison find themselves back in the clink?

Perhaps I've gotten a little off topic with the prison tangent, but the key is this: These problems stem from one major source, the lack of education. If children are taught in schools to embrace and celebrate differences, rather than what divides them, much more can be accomplished. I will be the first to admit that I fear my own idealism, but the problem must be addressed.

As I prepared to move to NOLA, more than one person commented on the high crime rates and the racial differences. I could only assume from tone of voice that the two were connected, which may perhaps be true. Shying away from problems does not solve them, in fact, that only allows them to fester and become worse. I don't wish to focus on keeping black men out of prison and helping them to become educated. I would just as much like to see white people equally educated. Isn't lack of education what leads someone to believe that an organization like the KKK can solve problems? An unwillingness to accept people for who they are rather than what they are is a solid example of why expanding your worldview through education, traveling, etc., is so important.

There I'm done now. I'm just. so. frustrated. with the world today.