If you believed the days of racism were over, think again. Even after the landmark ruling of Brown v. Board of Education banned school segregation, the skeletons of "separate but equal" still run rampant throughout the South.
On Nov. 2, the citizens of Alabama voted against officially amending their constitution to erase segregation-era wording references -- from poll taxes once imposed on blacks to phrases that required different schools for "black and colored students."
The defeat of Amendment 2 has reopened racial wounds that continue to persist throughout the state. After all, if segregation only stood as a dark reminder of history, then the amendment to move on from this history should have overwhelmingly passed, right?
Not so. According to the Associated Press, the measure was defeated by 1,850 votes or .13 percent. Since the vote was so close, the state of Alabama expected to hold a recount on Monday. But even if the results do change, the racial divide that has persisted since the founding of our country still undeniably exists today.
"There are people here who are still fighting the Civil War," Tommy Woods, a deacon at Bethel said to the Washington Post. "They're holding on to things that are long since past. It's almost like a religion."
I hate claiming racism. I wish I didn't have to. But as a minority myself, I've always believed that until people have lived in the shoes of someone who looks and is treated different, they will never truly understand the sensitivities of minorities in some matters.
To be fair, there were other possibilities behind why Alabamans voted against this amendment. In an attempt to soften the blow of Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, Alabama passed legislation to confirm that the state does not guarantee the right to public education. Amendment 2 would have overturned this.
Some felt that overturning this clause would force higher taxes to improve the current slummy schools in Alabama's public school system. Others have argued that Alabamans simply hate official changes to their constitution.
Regardless of the reason behind opposing a change to the racial jargon of their constitution, the main reason still stems from the abundance of overly conservative racists who wish to go back to segregation times. Even though public schools are desegregated by law, many minorities still remain in shabby schools in rundown urban neighborhoods. Not because they are inept to move beyond the slums, but because poor conditions in these schools often offer little hope for advancement.
In a recent PBS documentary, they said even the top students in poor inner-city schools fail standardized tests. Students are making an effort, but until education is improved (and yes, this is going to cost some precious tax dollars), conditions will only get worse and the racial divide will only deepen.
This isn't to say that minorities aren't racist as well. My boyfriend is white, and some of the most racist comments I receive from our relationship are from other Asians who insist I keep my race "pure." On that same note, a friend of mine, who is black, once told me about her visit to Georgia with her white boyfriend. While she received her fair share of stares from both whites and blacks, many blacks didn't hesitate to voice their disapproval of her "sell-out" interracial relationship.
Yet we minorities are here to stay. We don't want to receive tax-dollar handouts or to steal jobs through Affirmative Action. All we want is equality from a history of oppression.
But as Alabama has proved in voting against amending its racist past, a lot of work still needs to be done before we can truly consider ourselves a nation of complete equal opportunity.
Lily Yan is a journalism and political science major. Reach her at Lily7174@msn.com.
