Response: Jim Crow

Jennifer Aldana
October 20, 2009
English 6A

Response: Jim Crow

Life is an adventure of ups and downs. There would be days that you would just want to give up in life. If we give up in life, than there would not be any chance of hope and success in this world. There would be people that would be saying that you can not do it, but you must show those people wrong. If you believe in yourself, than you would be able to overcome anything that passes through you.

As I was reading “ Mee Street Chronicles: Tales of Jim Crow” by Frankie Lennon and “Racial Etiquette” by Ronald L. F. Davis it made me feel ashamed of what the white people are capable to do to the African Americans. It’s just not fair that the African Americans needed to pass through these obstacles because of their color of their skin. It’s ABSURD. We all have the same rights. It does not matter where you come from, what religion you believe in, your customs, color of skin, education, and beliefs. Nobody should be called names either because it’s just disrespectful. The Golden Rule says “You should treat others the way that you would want to be treated.” The only thing that matters right now is you and respect. Just being yourself.

There is another thing that I did notice between “Tales of Jim Crow” and “Racial Etiquette” and that is that we pass through the same experiences. Everybody has been called names that made you feel really embarrassed, but we have been able to overcome it. Everybody has felt one time in their life that they were treated the way that they should not be treated, but we have been able to overcome it too. I know that life is not even easy because of everything that is happening right now in the world, but we need to show that we have to courage, strength, and a voice. We having a voice shows other people that we have a voice that shows others we are capable of doing anything.

In the “Tales of Jim Crow” the narrator was not treated the same way as the white, yet we do not do anything. I believe that it’s time for a change. One person can bring a lot of change to this world and make the world a better place. We need to stop discriminating and bringing people down only because of their background. Everybody here in this world has free will and it’s time to use it. I think that if we do not bring change to all these wrong decisions and actions, than this world would become something that you would not want to be at.

Living a life of happiness is something that everybody dreams off. It is possible, but if everybody puts themselves involve for a change. I agree with the author that history should not be erased. Well, the history of the author life and my life would help us become a better person and learned from our mistakes. The past is something that can never be forgotten because it defines who you are and what you would become in the future.