Racism still a reality

One day during my junior year of high school in Lehi, Utah, I opened up the school newspaper to read an article that left me hurt and confused.

The article was titled, “Black? White? Whatever,” and its primary focus was on the supposedly hypocritical nature of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, as well as Black History Month in general. The author was adamant about her distaste for the special treatment black people were receiving by having days and an entire month of the year to focus on their achievements.

Upset by this article, I felt compelled to write a response editorial in order to express my feelings. While I believe some were impacted positively by my response, I worried that there would be many who would still not understand why nationally celebrating the accomplishments of blacks and other minority populations in the United States is crucial to our growth as a nation.

I still have that concern today.

The theme of this year’s Utah State Martin Luther King, Jr. event is “It’s Not Over.” Surely, some are asking, “What, exactly, isn’t over?” The fight for civil rights is typically presented as a movement of the past. Many Americans believe we have truly moved on to a post-racial society that is colorblind or colorless. However, with the claims of prejudices, unequal treatment and explicit or implicit biases, there is clearly more work to be done.

This is not an open and shut issue; the sociohistorical layers involved span hundreds of years and cannot be peeled off in a matter of a few decades. To illustrate this point, let’s look at two classics in African-American literature.

The first is “The Souls of Black Folk” by W.E.B. DuBois, a novel published in 1903. Considered radical for its time period, this novel presents the problems facing blacks at the turn of the decade when the Emancipation Proclamation, issued in 1863, had supposedly created equal footing for both blacks and whites in the United States. DuBois poignantly shows the lack of educational and legal privileges given to blacks in order to advocate for a drastic social change that would provide all Americans with equal opportunities.

Jumping forward to 1964, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s seminal work, “Why We Can’t Wait,” was published. In this novel, King cites the work of DuBois and focuses on the inadequate education blacks receive as well as the obstacles involved for blacks when registering to vote and trying to exercise that right.

Keep in mind that this is 63 years after “The Souls of Black Folk” was published and 101 years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued. Clearly, the fight for civil rights had not been won with the issuing of that one document.

So, how is it that we can claim 51 years later there is no civil-rights battle to be fought? Time has shown that the struggle for equality takes time, awareness and action. This is evident in the news today, where we find stories of actions fueled by prejudices, ignorance and, in some cases, pure hatred.

We continue to celebrate King and others today because they remind us to fight for humanity. They remind us to fight for the life, liberty and pursuit of happiness that the Declaration of Independence states all men and women should have. As the saying goes, “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

As citizens of the United States and humans, it is our responsibility to do what is right to secure for ourselves and our brothers and sisters what is rightfully theirs — the freedom to be valued for who they truly are.

— Niecie Jones is a graduate student studying marriage and family therapy. Send comments to nieciejones@gmail.com.