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Let us never forget our history

Being an African American in this world today is very tough, unequal in the aspect of receiving the same respect or common courtesy that the Caucasian Americans receive, and very scary, especially for African American males. When it all boils down to it, no one can stand back and say that they do not see the racial injustice that the African American man, woman, or child faces on a day-to-day basis. 

Shalonda Meadows

Shalonda Meadows

So many things have happened to the African American race within the past year alone, things that would make anyone of that race fear for their lives. 

So many deaths have been unaccounted for, some just swept under the rug, some even done by the very people who swore an oath to protect and serve all races – the police.

As time has rolled on it has been an uphill battle trying to get the opposite race to understand that we are more than just a skin tone, statistic, and opinion of that they personally think. 

Due to the killings of so many African Americans, there have been rallies and even organizations put together due to the destruction of the same race who felt that the voice of the African American nation was being silenced and oppressed.    

Some of those are Black Lives Matter, Don’t Shoot, and others who were put together because of the violence on innocent – and sometimes unarmed – African American citizens alone. 

A very specific case was a young woman named Sandra Bland. She was pulled over by a Texas State Trooper for reasons that are still to be justified, but one of the reasons was because she would not put out the cigarette when the trooper asked her to, which to any other common citizen would seem to be no problem at all. 

If she did nothing wrong and did nothing illegal, why would you get so upset to the point that you would literally pull her out of her car just because she did not want to put out her cigarette? What did the cigarette have to do with you pulling her over in the first place? I am pretty sure she was not the only person in her car minding her own business, smoking a cigarette. 

Another incident is the Trayvon Martin case. A former neighborhood watch captain named George Zimmerman killed him. Trayvon was just coming from the store with a tea and Skittles in his hand. Zimmerman was acquitted on all charges. 

Due to these hate crimes, as African Americans we have to make sure that our love for ourselves and our Black History is never forgotten because it is really important to understand where we come from, where we have been, and how far we have to go. 

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Shalonda Meadows is a junior mass communication major from Marion, Indiana.