<p>Am I the only person who feels weird on MLK day? I just like to sit and think about how things like race have changed since then. No more Jim Crow laws, integrated schools are obviously the norm, job opportunities, school opportunities, interracial couples everywhere and the whole bit. Even a half-black president! And that's all amazing, and Martin definitely would've been proud. But then I start thinking about things now. Like affirmative action. If things have changed so much, why do we still have that? And even though interacial marriages are generally accepted, why are some many people still judged? I was reading this article that 46% of republicans in Mississippi don't think interracial marriage should be legal. I think that's crazy. I don't know. There's a good and bad to everything. Just thoughts....</p>
<p>I still notice a lot of racism where I live in northern Ohio. Both my parents are racist…not necessarily openly, but those attitudes are still ingrained in their minds. My mom was ranting today about how civil rights have been taken too far, whatever that means. “You can have rights, but not too many!”</p>
<p>Human nature is flawed. Racism will never be wholly eradicated.</p>
<p>Lots of racism in good ol’ Washington too.</p>
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Ah, but things haven’t changed that much.</p>
<p>Baby steps. The civil rights movement isn’t even so long ago, but at least we’re all equal under the law. That’s obviously not concrete but we’re getting there. Each generation’s more accepting than the last.</p>
<p>We made it from a long way but progress still has to be made. People will always be slightly racist. Whether it is intentional or not.</p>
<p>There has been a lot of improvement over the short period of time but some people still hold their views. With more time everyone will gradually become more and more accepting. I feel as if things regarding race and prejudice have come a long way and I’m proud of our country for that.</p>
<p>Regarding your question about affirmative action, at least education wise, it has mostly been legally removed of this policy. However, I believe colleges still do it but not on a basis where they are neglecting other races. Colleges still need to make there school seem diverse. They don’t want their underrepresented minority percentage to drop.They accept high scoring minorities but look at any SAT or ACT percentile chart. Minorities score lower than other races. This, in my opinion, is why I feel affirmative action still exists implicitly.</p>
<p>Considering my parents were alive when Martin Luther King Jr was shot…wasn’t too long ago (even though I call them old :rolleyes:). These things take time. Who knows, racism might last forever, but then again, maybe not. Never know until 100 years from now. I think we’ve made a lot of progress in the past 50 years considering America’s long history of racism.</p>
<p>I know MLK day is over, but I’m just seeing this thread now, so I thought I’d just chime in. </p>
<p>Whenever some people look at the present state of race in America, they like to use a term called post-racial to describe things. Now, post-racial elicits the idea of a society where race doesn’t matter anymore and anyone can achieve anything because racism is a thing of the past, but when I look around, I can clearly see that this isn’t the case today. Race is still a big determinant in who gets ahead in American society. This is still a place where white privilege, profiling, institutional racism and other forms of racism are apparent. Surely a nation with a black president is indicative of progression but it is still not the mountaintop world that MLK spoke about. There’s still a long way to go and it’s going to take everyone from the White House to the islands of Hawaii to foster in that world MLK saw.</p>
<p>Things have changed greatly…in 1942, Jackie Robinson wasn’t allowed to sit in the middle section on a bus on the army base in Texas he was stationed at. Wasn’t allowed. And in 2008 we elected a half-black president that the majority of the American people undoubtedly believe to be wholly black…so no matter how you feel about people’s viewpoints, things have changed.</p>
<p>I feel the same way as I do about women’s rights; things have changed so much recently that a lot of people think that everything is right, but there is still a long way to go.</p>