History v. Now

As we read and discuss more about the civil rights movement, it is difficult for me to not relate this time period to our current society. Before the civil rights movement, many people did not question the ethics of a segregated, racist, society. People would go about their daily lives, not even letting the thought an "unequal society" cross their minds. Children were born and raised with the thought that this type of mentality and behavior was perfectly normal. We now know that this is obviously far from equality, and our fellow people were essentially feeling alienated in their own country. When looking at history, it makes me question the current world that we live in. It has definitely come a very long way, but it makes me wonder if we are truly equal in not only our words, but also our everyday actions. During this time period, racist acts were done without really realizing that they were racist, leading me to wonder as a caucasian, American male, if our society is in any way acting unequally without realizing it. Although race is nowhere near the issue that is used to be, other prejudices still exist.

Anomaly

As many students here at Juniata do, I am currently taking a Communications course. Our current project deals with learning and teaching to the class the topic of "paradigms and anomalies". In short, a paradigm is what makes us think a certain way or have a certain belief, based on what you know or experience. An anomaly, then, is the aspect that challenges or doesn't uphold that belief. As I worked on this project, I was thinking of different examples of this topic and the mid-1900's came to mind; more specifically the Montgomery Bus Boycott. It is often believed that all white people from this time period were racist, or supported segregation. This generalized thought is what makes a paradigm, based on the acts that were occurring during this time. However, during this boycott, there was an anomaly. During this span of the eleven month boycott, many white women were providing blacks transportation in their own vehicles, showing that this generalization isn't necessarily true. I find it very interesting that it is almost always assumed that every white person of this time period had the same mentality when dealing with this situation.