Black Table Is Still There

Words: 745

Pages: 3

Open Document

Segregation, the cringeworthy act of separating people based upon race, still exists throughout society to this day. Schools, especially, house voluntarily "segregated" students who separate themselves at different lunch tables, or friend groups, because of their race. Lawrence Otis Graham, author of "The 'Black Table' Is Still There," recounts his personal experience of how he encountered this segregation in junior high school, and how the same exact problem still exists at his junior high school over 14 years later. This discovery perplexes Graham and makes him question how such a degrading action could possibly still be practiced. Throughout Graham's essay, he conveys his personal annoyance at the fact that segregation still exists in junior high schools; despite the fact that segregation as a whole has been battled, to no avail, since the 1950's. Graham revisited his old, largely white junior high school and made a shocking discovery of an all-black lunch table present in the …show more content…
Graham attempts to rationalize his inner discomfort with the "black table," by providing a multitude of examples that detailed uncomfortable scenarios he experienced as a singled out black man. These examples seem to warrant his deep concern about segregated lunch tables, but, at the same time, reveal a rash hatred he has towards segregation. Non-minority readers, who haven't experienced discrimination first-hand, may potentially disavow Graham's argument strictly because of the fact he is apart of a group of people who have been segregated; hinting at the fact that Graham's view could potentially be biased against the practice of segregation in junior high schools, such as his own, because of his

Essay about Racism in films

Shane Carstenisns Paper 2: Stories People Tell 10/3/12 The movie Crash directed by Paul Haggis is one of my favorite films of all time. One of the issues in our society is that we to often categorize whites, blacks, Asians, Arabs, Latinos, etc, based upon their appearances. Racism is basically the assumption that a person’s behavior is influenced by their racial affiliation, regardless of whether the action is intentionally harmful. There are so many exceptions to racism using this assumption…

Words 2006 - Pages 9

Color Barrier: Racial Discrimination Among African Americans

Is it better to be known as Black, White, or both? Do you get more acknowledgement if you’re white? Is a black person equal to a white person or vice versa? Color Barrier is an unspoken social code of racial segregation or discrimination in things such as sports, education and public services. In 1947 African American Robinson broke baseball’s all-time color barrier. Racial discrimination among all minority groups have been around for a long time in America. Such as African Americans, there has…

Words 864 - Pages 4

Disparities In Poverty

percentage of people below the poverty line was 20.0% for American Indian and Alaska Native Alone or in Combination, a figure that underscores the persistent struggles faced by these communities. This was significantly higher than the 15.2% rate for Black Alone or in Combination and the 8.7% rate for Asian and Pacific Islanders. These figures illustrate the stark contrasts in poverty rates across racial lines,…

Words 371 - Pages 2

The Pros And Cons Of Slavery In America

America was founded on the principles of freedom. Some of the first settlers came for religious freedom, and people today still immigrate for various types of freedom not present in other countries. But back in the 18th and 19th centuries, not everyone was free. Slavery had existed in America since the founding of the country. The South mainly used them for work on plantations, and the North used them for various things, like housekeeping and working in factories. Many people in the North became…

Words 829 - Pages 4

Annotated Bibliography

questions that still remain either unanswered or unclear to us. The income gap between black and white households has been a major issue in the United States for decades and still leaves people questioning why this is. Herring and Henderson used OLS and quantile regression along with surveys to analyze their data about the income gap between black and white individuals. Ryoichi Sakano uses time-series analysis to measure and compare the changes in the income distribution between black and white incomes…

Words 890 - Pages 4

Roadhouse: A Short Story

chairs, which is what I was hoping for. I felt an immense tingling sensation in anticipation as I waited for Darren and his two mates to arrive. I was looking at an empty table close-by, and I hoped they would sit…

Words 1733 - Pages 7

Nt1330 Unit 5 Assignment

which is what I was hoping for. I felt an immense tingling sensation in anticipation as I waited for Darren and his two mates to arrive. I was looking at an empty table close-by, and I hoped they would sit there, which would be fabulous for them to see me clearly. About 30 minutes later, Darren and his two mates arrived, and sat at that table…

Words 1711 - Pages 7

Comparing I, Too, Sing America And Still I Rise

Compare & Contrast The poems “I, Too, Sing America” and “Still I Rise” both have the same general topic. They both discuss the African American fight for equality. In “I, Too, Sing, America” Langston Hughes writes about a slave that sticks up for himself. Whenever the guests arrive, the “slave owners” send him to eat in the kitchen so he won’t disturb them. However, the next day he decides to sit at the table with the guests to show that he is no different than they are. He knows that they are ashamed…

Words 414 - Pages 2

AP Essay

Amerika Gillett Per. 3 –AP English 4/1/14 2010 AP* English Language and Composition Free-Response Questions Question 3 A political cartoon is formed by allusion and caricature. They are the primary source that often intriguing and entertaining insights into the public mood, the under lying cultural assumptions of age and attitude towards current events. The content of political cartoons usually includes stereotypical highlights a particular viewpoint or idea using illustrations. The image can be…

Words 440 - Pages 2

The Coming of Mississipi Essay

Tatiana Varela Coming of age in Mississippi Mr. Daniels Book Summary When Anne is four years old, she and her mother, Toosweet, her father, Diddly, and her younger sister, Adline, live in a two-room shack on a plantation. None of the shacks of the black plantation workers has electricity or indoor plumbing, while the Carter family’s house has both. At night, when the white family’s house is the only one lit up, Anne’s mother says the plantation owner is counting money he made off of them. While Anne’s…

Words 1042 - Pages 5