Malcolm X Post 2: Barriers in our Social Lives

Although I am not yet finished with the autobiography of Malcolm X, I have concluded that it is one of the few stories that have had such an amazing impact on me. This story has changed my way of thinking about the past and my everyday life. One thing that stood out to me was how surprised Malcolm seemed to be when he was encountering whites in Harlem. I know that peaceful interaction may have been hard to find when Malcolm was growing up, but he  explains it in a way that makes me realize how strained the relationships between blacks and whites really were.  I personally cannot tell if there were a lot of existing relationships, but I know that it was hard to come by. I can honestly say that I am truly grateful that I live in a time where people of two different races can be friends without any suspicions or problems that they would have to encounter. 

Although I know that I do not have to experience the problems that two different races encounter, I know that there are still some people in our country that think it is wrong for people of two different races or ethnic backgrounds to be friends.mI think it is barely attainable to completely destroy the racism amongst people, especially if it is started early in life, like at school. 

http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-9215/racism.htm

When I was younger, probably in pre-school, I didn't know much about the differences in races, except maybe we were different colors. My parents are not racist people, and they did not raise me or my siblings that way. However, in a more diverse pre-school, I became aware of these differences when other white kids would tell me that I shouldn't hang out with the other kids. It wasn't just blacks, put children of a bunch of different ethnic backgrounds. An it wasn't because they were mean, or because we didn't like them. It was because we were different. As 3 year olds, we were naive, we didn't understand many things. It was like a boy vs. girl situation. All of us girls thought that boys had cooties and we weren't supposed to touch them or do what they did because we would then get the cooties.  There was nothing wrong with the other children, we just assumed that they didn't want to interact with us either because they could get our cooties. I can't honestly say that I knew it was wrong then, I was too young, but I can tell you that now, I realize how silly and crazy that idea was.

I do not think that a world without prejudice is completely unreachable, I just think that it is going to take a lot of commitment to make it happen and I think people are really going to have to want to change our world. I can only hope that people realize what needs to happen to make our world a better place where all are equal with the same rights and without having to worry about the effects their skin color will have.