Fight back

We started the day off by visiting Little Rock Central High School. I would like to say how amazing the school is. It is a huge school with a beautiful campus. I guess that os what 1.5 million does for you. However, when we visited Dunbar High School, I noticed that the constructors did try to create the separate but equal building with the same structure of the school, but it does not compare to the size of Little Rock Central High School. Hearing the story of the Little Rock Nine is difficult for me to listen to because I cannot imagine going through what they went through just to get an education. The park ranger told us a story about how one of the Little Rock Nine was expelled because she fought back. It was a rule for them not to fight back but to what extent could someone take all of the abuse? Also the students in school did things far worse than her, and they were not expelled for that. There was definitely inequality within this which makes me ever more happier that she fought back and stood up for herself.

Listening to Sybil Hampton saying how some of the men were saying that they would definitely fight back, which I would agree with. But, then she said that you would be dead if you did and it's hard to deal with someone physically, verbally and emotionally abusing me. While at the National Civil Rights Museum, I took a quiz where it asked where would I fall under for the nonviolence category. My result was Malcolm X and the quote it came with said "I can only be nonviolent with someone if they are also nonviolent" and that is exactly how I feel. I would be open to being nonviolent and doing the movement if I was in this time period but I would not be able to promise that I would not fight back. I definitely know that this would make me a target and people would want me dead, but also if I did not fight back I could die as well so why not stand up for you either way? 

Daekwan Jacobs

12^th grade, City College