Culture is human nature. We created the culture of racism and we can unmake it, we can transform old ways into new and better ways. We can recall old ways that worked well and bring them into the present. We have Choices. As the centenarian civil rights activist Grace Lee Boggs liked to say, everything changes and we cant get stuck in old ideas. Racism is an old idea. A tradition that harms children is not worth conserving or continuing. (Sun Yung Shin, pg 10)

If Black, like White, is not a race, it must be a classification (LBe p. 69)

video

 

African Americans in WW2 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3rnCPeKBwg&t=792s

Jim Crow

Jim Crow

This is a character that was made to depict African Americans ethnic stereotypes that were created by white ideas of what black culture was by in the 1940s   

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Crow_(character)

Brotherhood

Brotherhood
When Blacks and whites fought in the war, there was no color. They found comfort in brotherhood and community. They were all fight for the same thing, which connected them.

https://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/ww2-pictures

In the Jim Crow south, during world war II, African Americans fought alongside the Caucasian Americans. This created a brotherhood of tight, friendship bound men who stood with each other through thick and thin. This was one of the strongest bonds ever created between men that still lives on as a legacy today. Skin color was not noticed, accent did not matter. These men all fought for the same goal with the same mindset: to win the war for their country.

Sadly enough, this this brotherhood did not last after the war. The movie Mudbound perfectly portrays how easily it is for individuals to forget the sacrifice soldiers paid for their country and turn against them due to their skin color. Ronsel Jackson was a loyal African American soldier who served diligently in WWII. Upon coming home from the war, he was immediately treated with aggression. Forced to 'go through the back door' or 'ride in the back of a truck', this poor boy was torn apart at the horrendous way he was treated. Shouldn't he deserve some kind of respect? He just sacrificed an incredible amount to make sure these people had their freedom.

Even though the United States is not going through a major war like WWII, this doesn't mean African Americans should still be treated unjustly. As a reminder to never do this again, one must look back at the horrible history ancestors have gone through put others through. It is a horrible reminder to never go back. Never repeat. Never redo what was undone. Never forget.