Mississippi Burning

Some time ago, we saw a movie called "Mississippi Burning". We got some tasks at school, where you could choose one of them. I chose the first one. I was going to imagine that I was living in Mississippi in the 1960s, and write a Diary page. I imagined myself as a young, black boy. I chose this task because I thought it seemed interesting, and I wanted to try to see how it was for a black boy to live in a world filled with racism.


Dear Diary,
I am freezing. Not because of the temperature. Nor because I need better clothes. It's because of the world. This world is so cold, so full of hte. Many people on this planet hate me and my loving family. They think that we are different. Ugly. Dumb. That we stink. I know why they find me ugly. I think that they don't like black people. I am black, therefore must I be hated.

My family have never done anything to hurt anyone. We never did anything wrong against whites. I had a white best friend once. We used to meet and hang out in the park without his family knowing about it. One day, he wanted to take me home to his house, so I could meet his family. He told me he was sure it'll be okay. I can tell now that it sure wasn't.
We were peacefully playing in my friend's room, when his mother came home from work. She saw us playing together and started screaming.
"Get that animal out of here at once," she shouted.
She was threatening me. If I didn't leave the house immediately she would call the cops, she told me. I ran as fast as I could. All the way back home, I ran and ran. I haven't met my friend since that day. The last thing I can remember, is watching him cry as I left his house for the last time. That's my last memory of the very best friend I ever had.

Sadly, almost every white person I've met have the same opinion about blacks, as the mother of my former friend had. But not every white guy is like that. I remember something from earlier; I was walking, when I suddenly heard a man talking behind me.
"Look at that piece of crap," he said to his little daugther, his head pointing directly at me. His daughter said something like "That's not a piece of crap, Dad. He is just a young man."
I felt touched, and I got all teary. I became so happy because of her non-racist thoughts. I wanted to turn around and smile to her, and if this world was safer for me, I am sure I would have done that. I went to bed really glad that night.

I have some hopes and dreams for the future. They can come true, I do believe so. I wish that more people will start to think like my friend and the little girl. They couldn't see anything different about my family and I. We might not have the same skin colour as everyone else, but we are just as human. I believe we deserve the same rights.






All of the pictures are found at http://weheartit.com/