Commentary; Posted: 4/14/04

Did Brown vs. Board of Education serve its purpose?

By Brittny Anderson

As some of my teachers have put it, ìIf everyone were the same, the world would be pretty boring. Think if everyone were just like you, then you would not be unique at all.î

Sometimes, this could be good. The rest of the time though, it would be very boring. There is only one world and whether we have dark or light skin, we are all humans. We cannot at all help the color skin that we have, it is just the way we are and that is how we are all unique. No one should be treated better or worse just because of the color of his or her skin.

This is exactly what happened, though, with the segregated schools.

It was supposedly ìseparate but equal,î but if you looked around and compared the schools and other buildings, transportation and homes separate for blacks and whites, it was obviously not equal. There was a very big difference in the black and whiteís segregated buildings and transportation. The black side of things was unclean and unkempt. The white side was very clean and nice.

The famous case of Brown versus Board of Education changed all of this and not everyone liked it. The National Guard even had to come in because the whites would not allow it. That, in my opinion, is not right. It is horrible to treat someone that way just because of his or her skin.

So, did this ruling put an end to segregation in the United States?

In physical and legal terms, it basically did.

Among us personally though, I am not so sure. Even the nicest and most caring person has thought at least once in their lives about the other personís skin if it is different from theirs.

I can do several things to promote desegregation in our society. The first and most obvious is to make friends with different races. This is like making friends with any other person. If they have a soccer ball in their hand, and you absolutely love soccer, go up to them and strike up a conversation. Who knows what could happen?

The second ties in with the first. Try to include both their friends and your friends in one big group and go bowling or to a movie. That way everyone could get to know each other and while you are having fun, others could see you and realize you are having just as much fun with them as with your close friends.

My last idea is try to not judge a person on the spot, they could be a good person but you do not get that idea right away. On the other hand, if you just see them and decide not to like them because of their skin, remember it is only their skin color and that does not affect anything inside of them.

Everyone is human and we are all a little bit different. We all have something in common though. We all have human rights and we all have feelings. Just remember that everyone enters your life for a reason. You can be friends with anyoneóno matter what color their skin is.

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