I guess I have always realized that race is still an issue today but I never really thought it was still this strong. Maybe I have just been ignorant or maybe its because I have always lived in the Midwest, but I never thought that a school could still have two separate proms, one for whites and one for blacks. How is it that such a situation can still exist today? I just don’t understand how people can still be living like this. Like I said, maybe I am ignorant and just have been blinded but I thought that for the most part, segregation like this had ended. Since taking this class, I have learned and understand many of the reasons and ways that race still effects people and society. I understand that just because a law says that all people are equal does not mean that that’s true in practice. I believe that they key to ending the race problems today is education. Yes, I acknowledge that other things need to occur as well but I strongly believe that educating people to understand these differences and why they happen is the only way to end them. We learned in lecture about the paradox of social change and how changes are spontaneous and incremental. The little changes will end up adding up to be big changes and I feel that education is the key to those little and big changes. Just by understanding the few concepts we covered in class, I feel like I can teach others and start making those small changes. While watching Prom Night in Mississippi, something that a father said really stuck me as hypocritical. This man’s white daughter was dating a black boy and he completely disapproved of the whole situation and he straight up said that he didn’t like black people. But then he went on to explain how it is the parent’s responsibility to break the cycle of hatred because they are just passing it on to their children, and yet he is not trying to make a change himself. It just seemed odd to me that he would even say something like that. The most frustrating part of the whole issue of segregation in this city is that they kids who are being segregated don’t even want it and it is really the choice of the parents. The students have been educated and have started to made choices not to let race affect the way they act towards someone who is different than them. There small changes led to a very big change for their high school and community.