Reflection+on+Change

Change in America

The images of African Americans being attacked with fire hoses operated by white policemen during civil rights marches shows white intolerance and hate for African Americans. As Americans, we are taught to hate anyone who is different than we are. If we find no reason to legitimately hate them, we make one up. We hate because we recognize that in order to be superior, we must put others down to raise ourselves up. Alexis de Tocqueville predicted that African Americans and whites will never be on equal footing. He also observed that in America once an idea is ingrained in Americans minds, it simply becomes a part of who they are and their lives even if it is wrong. Americans lack the will to change and so they simply continue to press on with their lives under their old ideals even if they are morally wrong. This relates to the idea of the separate but equal decision made by the Supreme Court after the Plessey v. Ferguson case. The idea that blacks and whites should be segregate became a part of who we were as Americans. Caucasian Americans especially in the south lived under laws in which caused African Americans much hardship and pain. Americans had been taught that African Americans were inferior to them and therefore Caucasian Americans continued to treat African Americans cruelly, attacking them, hanging them, and inflicting misery on them. This hate steamed from principals and ideals created in the dark past of our nation’s history and even though many recognize that this treatment was cruel and unjust they were so use to the way things were, that they silenced their voices.

Although de Tocqueville believed that Americans were able but unwilling to change, he did recognize that it was possible and that it could be done in a hard and timely manner. But change was and is possible in the United States. Currently, many Americans judge others on the content of their character rather than on the color of their skin. The images shown depict the advances that we have made regarding issues of race. We were able to instigate change. The video at the end of the exhibit shows that we are continuously looking for ways to change and improve the lives of the suffering and those who are in need of revolution to improve their lives.

American Change