THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 23, 1996 TAG: 9602230040
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Markus Little, Maury High School
LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
Runner up: Markus Little, Maury High School, Norfolk
Throughout the United States' history, the relationship between races has been shaky. Whites, blacks and other racial groups seem to have always held a feeling of spite toward each other.
Despite unsteady race relations, I think race relations in the year 2025 will be tremendously better. I base this prediction on many issues and conditions or in our nation's past.
Looking on how far the United States has come, one can only see the country's race relationships improving.
When our country started off, relationships were terrible. Blacks were enslaved by whites and treated as if they were only property. This status improved when slavery was outlawed, but blacks and other minorities were still treated as mainly inferior to whites.
Minorities, especially blacks, had to suffer through the era of Jim Crow laws and other racism. Relations, however, improved through the civil rights movement.
The movement allowed blacks to show what life was like for them. Seeing what terrors were imposed upon minorities, American whites started trying to correct what was wrongly done. They started making laws to stop and make sure injustices, like innocent blacks being killed, never happened again.
Although these laws were passed and enacted, race relations were not the best they could be. Even though there were no more racist laws, race groups still held feelings of bitterness toward each other.
However, over a long period, race relations have tremendously improved to the point now where relations are pretty good, but not good as they should be.
The United States has always overcome its problems. To me this race relations situation is just another problem that Americans will eventually conquer. If one looks at all the problems that Americans have overcome - World War I and II, slavery and British tyranny - the way the United States has survived leads me to think that this is only a bump in the road to the country's greatness.
Race relations in this wonderful country have progressed from a lot of turmoil during the period of slavery and pre-civil rights era to much more tranquillity of the present day. In the year 2025, this country will be tremendously better, for this country is too great to allow something like this to conquer it. ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo
Little
KEYWORDS: BLACK HISTORY MONTH ESSAY CONTEST by CNB