Race and My Community

Race and My Community

Race was not in my vocabulary growing up, because I lived in a very white city and state. I feel kind of guilty saying that now the way everything has to be politically correct. I did not go to school with any black children, or children of any other race, until I was in high school. There was a black family moved into the school district and she was a grade ahead of me. I had never been around black people and I was surprised that she was a girl just like me.

I grew up in the 60’s and 70’s when the black people were starting to stand up for themselves, saying enough is enough. They didn’t ride in the back of the bus anymore, or use black only restrooms. Of course in the late 60’s and 70’s there was Vietnam and racial issues were not forefront in the daily news.

I remember Martin Luther Kings “I have a dream” speech, and his peaceful marches. I saw many turning points in history but they did not mean a lot to me at that time because I did not know any black people. So I watched history change and I went on my own blissfully ignorant way. I do remember reading stories and the news about the Ku Klux Klan and how they would burn crosses on people’s lawns and sometimes burn their houses. It did not matter to me, because that was happening in other parts of the country not in my little part of the world.

When I was reading the questions that need to be addressed in my paper it made me realize what a very isolated city I grew up in. The members of my community and the leaders all looked like me. I never saw anyone treated differently in my town and our local news never had information to report on racial problems in the area. Currently, we have a larger population of blacks residing in Parkersburg. There are blacks represented in the local government, black teachers, doctors and nurses. We even have a few Hispanics that have moved here for work, mostly in Mexican restaurants. Still, for the most part, Parkersburg is predominately a white city....