Law, Justice and Society: Chapter Twelve

I do not understand how one person on day considered it morally correct to take someone from their home and make them a slave. It boggles my mind how just because the color of someone’s skin that they were automatically judged and not given the rights and privileges as others. If you think about it, the colonist invaded so many different cultures and societies just to take them away from their homes and families and make them work for little or no pay/ benefits. On top of destroying a lot of their lives already, all the people we captured from distant lands, we were racist towards and didn’t like. This sheer hatred still goes on today. I have never understood that apparently the color of your skin or the background you come from determines how smart you are, or how hard of a worker you are or that if you are anything but Caucasian, then you must be sick and just down right nasty. Obviously, I completely disagree with all the judgment and racism which occurs and I always have been. Growing up in California I had nothing but colored friends. My twin and I were usually the only white kids in our group. I loved it that way. I learned so much from all the different families and cultures. I was really disappointed when I moved to Idaho considering there are not very many cultured individuals here besides the majority of white people.
During class Jeremy asked us all if we believed that society has gone too far with trying to equalize everyone and compensate for all the judgment from the past or if we have maybe gone too far with the whole thing. It’s a hard question to answer. I could really go both ways. The way that I look at it is everyone makes mistakes and unfortunately humans today can not spend the rest of eternity making up for the decisions that were made a centuries ago. The nation simply needs to pick up its feet so that we can all move on in a positive direction. Little by little we have all gotten better with equality. From the Dred Scott Case to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAcivil64.htm) we have been trying to make a change. Even a year later another change occurred and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was made. We have spent years trying to make up for all the lost respect, but when is it going to be enough? When are we finally going to be able to say that everyone is satisfied? I am not sure that day will ever come. There is no such thing as having a nation with not a single racist person in it. Sadly, we will always have someone hating some other type of race and visa versa.
We as a nation have come a long way since the Jim Crow Laws and the Dred Scott Case. I truly believe it is time to lay down our arms and finally live in a society that is not constantly feeling sorry and apologizing for the past. It all about the future so, why not start with a clean slate from here?