Although we may not think about it too often, some parts of our society are still very racist. I myself have gotten to experience this injustice firsthand. Our nation typically generalize people from the South, by saying that we all have southern hospitality. This is, for the most part, true. However, they are often unaware of all the racism that occurs down there. This social injustice is a contradiction to the statement that all men are created equal. One of the most important notions I got from living in the South, is that racism is still alive and well in 2013.

When I was in eighth grade, I was in South Carolina. My school had a population of about 600 kids. I think it is safe to say that at least 45% were black. The n word was a common word for all of us to use. The word has a bad history, but we typically used it as a greeting. The black kids did not mid if we used it, because we all did. Now that am living in an area where that word is much less common, I reflect on eighth grade and think that that term is not acceptable everywhere. If I were to use that term here, I would most likely be labeled as racist. The thing that we all should get to know, and I to learn, is that that term should totally be removed from our vocabulary because lots of people still are offended by the word. However, it was not only the students who needed a lesson.

Also in eighth grade, I had Coach Cisson as my South Carolina history teacher. Coach Cisson was more biased and prejudiced than your average history teacher. Let's fast forward a few months to the time of the 2012 election. He, like most Southerners, was very conservative: strong American defense, traditional limited government, and in favor of states rights. So naturally, he opposed Obama. I don't think he disliked African Americans, but he said things like “I remember being in high school and seeing fliers for upcoming white supremacist(KKK) meetings.”, and we would ask him “ Did you go to them?” and he would reply “ Can't say my father didn't”. He told us about how he went to a segregated school district and his town had restaurants and bathrooms for colored people. He would also tell us things about how his grandmother had owned a cotton farm that had been in his family for many years. The more he told us about his beliefs, his family, and his heritage, the more we wondered whether this man whom we saw as a mentor, had really ever changed his ways.

The one thing that I was trying to get across in this memoir/personal essay/narrative was that we need to eradicate racism at its roots. The United States had a very good policy during the Cold War about Communism. The Containment Policy had a goal to contain Communist expansion without a nuclear war. Of course, a nuclear war is unlikely, we need to contain racism to the South and not allow it to spread. Once we have it contained, we should try to eliminate the racism used. However, it is likely that some people, not in the South, use racist terms and assumptions. Whenever we see these people, we should scold and warn them about how important it is to stop using these words, whether they are joking or not. All together, after research and thinking back, I am aware of racism in 2013 and will make an effort to change our society.