Stereotypes, representation

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This week, I read March by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell. It is a memoir of the congressman John Lewis as he recounts his upbringing up until the day of inauguration of President Obama. John had a strict upbringing. And it was clear that he was an oddball unlike the rest of his family. He valued education and even went against his father's demands to go to school instead of staying at home to help with the farm. He also was a preacher. He preached to his chickens ever since he was young, and held funerals for them when they died. He becomes one of the youngest preachers and goes to meet Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He participates in the lunch counter non-violent sit ins to desegregate America. And after much tension, on May 10, 1960 six Nashville restaurants served food to black people. This was a great triumph for desegregation. His story proves how difficult freedom can be, and how resistant people can be to change when they hold themselves superior to others. Racism is so deep-set in American history, that even when things appear to be getting better, there are still so many blatant as well as underlying problems that minorities face to this day.

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