Everywhere we look there is segregation.  There is segregation between sexes, cultures, and religions.  Do we intend to have these segregations?  Do we want to categorize ourselves?  Absolutely we do.  We have engraved in our minds this idea of unity, yet we keep ourselves from being truly united.  We have come a long way, but there are so many simple things that should have been changed long ago.

I have just read an article on racial segregation in the United States.  According to this article “ the Alabama Constitution still mandates that separate schools shall be provided for white and colored children, and no child of either race shall be permitted to attend a school of the other race”(2).  An unsuccessful attempt was made in 2004 to revoke this act.  I personally feel that there is no greater failure in a nation than separating its citizens.  You have no control over what race you are.

When people ask me, “What are you?” I respond by saying I am American.  Now this tends to either make the person laugh, or it just confuses or aggravates them.  But why?  The constant question annoys me.  “What are you?” I am American, that is were I was born.  That is where I am loyal.  A more appropriate question would be what ethnicity are you?  I myself am a mix of many ethnicities.  I am a combination of 1/4 Sicilian (Italian), about 1/4 Austrian mixed in with the people who used to live in Germany, before Germany, and Czechoslovakians, a little over 1/4 Hungarian, 1/16 Cherokee Indian, and 3/16 American.  I say 3/16 American because some sides of my family had been in American for many generations.  It boils down to I am white or Caucasian.  That is what I have to write on District Tests and applications.  None of those ethnicities define me; they just explain how I came to exist.  It is not about what you are.  It is about who you are.

How are we segregated?  As children, boys are friends with boys and girls are friends with girls.  It is what we as children are taught.  It might be that boys and girls have nothing in common, but that seems highly unlikely.  So why is it always battle of the sexes?  It is because we made it that way.  They are different and we want to be part of something.  We want to be with our own group.  Eventually, it ends up that interests differ from one another, but originally it is because we are physically different from one another.

I am fascinated and outraged at the clubs that my school has to offer.  There are good clubs like Speech and Debate, CSF, and Red Cross.  However, there are segregated clubs like Armenian club, Asian club, BSU (Black Student Union), Christian club, Indian club, Muslim club, Latinos Unidos, Jewish club, and Gay Club.  Since when are any of these clubs interests?  They are not interests, they are things that separate us from one another.   They are not Running club, Science club, or Art club.  Things that people take interest in or do as a hobby.  The most they could do is learn about their religion and their heritage, but it’s not about that.   Not to offend any Armenians, some of my closest friends are Armenian, but there were people standing in front of the Armenian club sign ups shouting, “If you are not Armenian, you can’t sign up.”  That sounds like segregation.  With all these clubs our multicultural school becomes empty. Armenian, Asian, Black, Christian, Indian, Muslim, Latinos, Jewish people, and Gays are all American.  They are in America and most of them were born in America.  Why do they choose to separate themselves from one another, and how can a school let them separate themselves from one another?

If you are a United States citizen, you are American!  I did not say if you are in America than you are American, because people visit from other countries and if they are not American maybe they do want to be American.  But whether you are Armenian, Asian, Black, Christian, Indian, Muslim, Latino, Jewish, or Gay you should want to be American.  Let hobbies describe who you are.  Do not let your skin color, eye color, hair color, or religion control how and what you decide to do.  It is time we become one, because background of people who are not you, does not count for who you are.  We should all be ourselves, but still live together as one.  We are one nation of many different backgrounds.  But that is all that they are, backgrounds.  It is time to create something new.  Under one nation, we are the same.

Original Site:    http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Racial_segregation_-_USA/id/1990959