Opinions Create Segregation

Human’s judgment can be the difference between persecuting an innocent person and living peacefully among continuously victimized civilians. Americans now days hear the history of slavery and we typically rejoice at that fact that America has made it to the point where we can proudly call our country free. However, while Americans are free in terms of a law being passed in the Constitution, every day Americans are enslaved by their peer’s judgment. Just like Trueblood in The Invisible Man, people of a minority race get judged and looked down on by the dominate race in current day. Ralph Ellison showed that after the white fold knew what Trueblood had done to his daughter, they flocked to Trueblood’s family and gave them money as well as a better way of living than the way that they had previously been living. Minority races still receive attention from other races, though not always in the same intensity which Trueblood received. Now days, minority races get glorified for their thick or kinky hair. Eyes follow minorities, mesmerized by their dark skin. However, the attention that received from the dominate race is not always positive. Some minority groups are feared while they’re walking down the street, even though they do not give a reason to be distrusted.  The reality television show What Would You Do? has proven that if you place a white person in a situation that calls for them to pretend to steal a bike, not many people will stop them and tell the white person that stealing is bad. But when they tired the same experiment with a black person, almost every passing witness stopped to question the black person. Whether people notice it or not, we typically make racial assumptions about minority races. In my life, I see these assumptions happen frequently. Many times, I will be shopping with my mother – who is black – and we will get treated differently. Employees have treated me with preteen customer service while I browse in their shop. However, though my mother will be standing next to me, the same employee will treat her with suspicion as if she is planning on pocketing the items that are in front of her. Even though that sales clerk did not know my mother’s characteristics she treated her differently than how I was treated after seeing the difference in our skin tones. People need to realize that no matter what the color of our skin is, we are all human. We all look alike on the inside, so we should not treat anyone like they are beneath anyone else for a reason that was beyond their control. If a person must judge another being, then let that reason be based on character and not physical traits. Though, segregation is no longer a law, it is still very alive in the hearts of people.