Southern Povery Law Center

To begin I believed that this tour was going to be boring, but this was a prime example of not judging a book by its cover. I don't know what I expected to encounter, but I assumed that it wasn't going to be interesting or fun. I was mistaken as soon as I entered the building. The walls were papered with images of the Civil Rights Movement from "Whites Only" signs to protesters being attacked by dogs and sprayed with water hoses. This immediately caught my attention and caused me to fly to the walls to read the information. I loved that this center showcased and put a face to some of the hundreds or even thousands that were slain during the times of Civil Rights based on their want for equal rights. Of course I knew there were more people lost in the struggle than the publicized Emmitt Till, but to read the reasons they were killed and how was unbelieveable. I was sad, but proud that these individuals died for a righteous cause and also if it wasn't for them I would not have the privileges I have today and neither would any other minority in America. Once again this experience made me want to do more with my life and help others even more. I don't have to suffer the same obstacles my ancestors had to because they made sure that I didn't, but like Ma'am Joanne stated "each generation is only a puzzle piece and if we don't have all the pieces the picture is incomplete." I want to make sure the generation that comes after me will have even less things to worry about when it comes to their skin color, religion, sexual orientation etc. The center also focused on not only hate-crimes that occured during the Civil Rights Movement, but also those that exist today. The latest one that was documented happened in 2006 and this is only 6 years ago. I could believe it, but it was still a shock that we read about these things in history books just to see that they are also present in contemporary times. There were also cases that focused on nationality, sexual preference and mental capabilities. I had only heard of one of these cases in mainstream news which is ridiculous. Hate crimes like those in the past are never considered hate crimes and if so they are never publicized and made known to the masses. This frankly pisses me off and shows me that we as a nation still need to look in the mirror to see the truths that we try to sweep under the rug.