Just Walk on By: Black Men in Public Spaces, by Brent Staples and I Have a Dream, by Martin Luther King Jr.

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Kofi Annan, the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations and the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize winner, once said, “Our mission, therefore, is to confront ignorance with knowledge, bigotry with tolerance, and isolation with the outstretched hand of generosity. Racism can, will, and must be defeated (“Quotes.”)” Racism has existed since the dawn of time. It has been used as a method to keep strangers out of societies or to keep people in an inferior state. Racism is defined as, “The belief that some races of people are better than others (“Racism.”)” How should the citizens of the world stop the spread of racism? The answer is through the education of children. Parents and guardians must teach them one step at a time to not judge a book by its cover. The evaluation of two sources, the article, “Just Walk on By: Black men in Public Spaces” by Brent Staples and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s speech, “I Have a Dream,” can help citizens learn how the discriminated feel when they are discriminated against, and how to stop the spread of racism. Throughout history, racism has been present. In biblical times, Cain was marked by God so that people would not kill him. The people treated him badly because of the mark though. In American colonial times, blacks were taken from their homes in Africa and sold as slaves in America. Then in 1865, the United States ratified the 13th amendment. It freed 4 million black slaves. Although the bonds of slavery were broken, blacks were still not equal. Local governments began trying to take away what few rights blacks had. They imposed poll taxes and grandfather clauses, laws that kept blacks whose grandfathers were slaves from voting. This kept African-Americans from electing their own representatives who... ... middle of paper ... ...ay to stop the spread of racism. Children are the answer. Children are not set in their ways. They learn from what they see and hear. If they see their parents or teachers discriminating against someone, they will also discriminate against that person. Staples’s article and King’s speech are amazing works that can help change the way people are seen and thought of. Racism can only be stopped if people stop thinking in terms of race. The evaluation of these two pieces can lead to the curing of the insidious disease of racism. Works Cited Yousafzai, Malala. “What the Dream Means to Me.” Time 182.9 (2013): 96. Academic Search Complete. Web. 10 Nov. 2013. Merriam-webster dictionary “racism” web viewed Oct 25 copyright 2013 sponsored by Norwegian cruise line “quotes about racism” good reads web viewed Oct 25 copyright 2013 sponsored by Goodreads, Inc. Kofi Annan

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