Commentary; Posted: 4/14/04

Did Brown vs. Board of Education serve its purpose?

By Ben Tolzmann

When the Supreme Court ruled to require integration during the ìBrown v. Board Educationî case, it was a great step for human rights of people of different races, especially African Americans. However, it did not completely put a stop to segregation.

Although many people today donít see race as a problem, there are those who still believe that people of color should not be treated as well as white people. For those racist people, the work done by civil rights activists in the past 50 years has gone unnoticed. I feel badly that those individuals cannot accept that people of color are no different than the rest of us. If a white person treats a person of color badly, itís as though they are disrespecting their own race. We are alike, in that we are all human beings, looking to live the American dream in peace. If certain people cannot learn to accept a multicultural society, then perhaps they should not even live in America.

Our country is supposed to be a land of freedom, peace and equal rights. That is what people throughout history have been trying to create. Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the greatest examples of these people. Rosa Parks is another example. When she refused to move from her bus seat in 1955, her courage gave hope to blacks who deserved the right to do anything others could do.

If I had to pick someone who has helped to break the color barrier down even more, I look directly at our children.

We see them all playing at recess, whites and blacks together. They donít care if some of their friends are white, while others are black. If young children can pick up a concept like this, then we have to wonder, why canít adults do the same? If a little boy can overcome racism, then why canít his father or mother? Itís up to the next generation of our country to help make sure that racism doesnít increase. I can help to make that happen.

If I can see someone of a different skin color being treated poorly, I can stand up for that person. I can make sure that another racist doesnít influence others in our schools. I can tell people that there is no need to call each other names because we are all the same.

If we children can stand together, regardless of our race, then perhaps we can convince the racists out there that there is no point to their hatred. We can live in a world that would make all of the civil rights activists throughout history proud.

They all did their parts to help and now itís our turn to make a difference.

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