LESSONS I HAVE LEARNED
In Louisiana the first step in school integration was to
integrate the faculty. I was assigned to
teach in an all black high school. The first lesson I learned was that black
students could teach a white teacher more than a white teacher could teach
black students. I was startled to learn that there is beauty in skin-color, and
there is a depth of determination in the eyes that struggle. I was surprised to
learn that black female students had the desire to continue school even with
the responsibility of taking care of babies. I was shocked to learn that some
male and female black students prostituted their bodies in order to earn enough
money to buy clothes for school. I was amazed to learn that black students who
lived in homeless shelters walked to school with the glowing desire to learn. I
was stunned to learn that the only meal a day for some students was the meal at
school. I was educated to the fact that
some students could learn more on an empty stomach than others could learn who
had plenty. I was astonished that many
students would go home and wash their one piece of clothing so they could wear
clean clothes to school the next day. I learned that the struggles I may have
experienced were nothing compared to the struggles of black students who were
trying to rise above the stigma of living in a ghetto.
But the biggest shock of all was learning that American lawmakers voted
to cut spending for programs that provided food for hungry American
children. I learned that the biggest
disgrace that the people of any nation has to face is to have a government that
gives away trillions of taxpayer’s dollars to other nations, and allows
American citizens to suffer.
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