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(Excerpt by Ben Carson, from America the Beautiful: Rediscovering What Made This Nation Great. // It's sobering to realize some of Carson's encounters with racism are less than 45 years old. Perhaps the closeness of these events can also encourage us; while change is often slow, imagine the transformation we could see in our lifetimes if we become "rebels for positive change." - Adam Forrest, Zondervan)
Does America have its flaws? Absolutely... [But] one of America's most respected legacies is indeed that of rebelling for change.
My Road to Change
I grew up in inner-city Detroit and Boston at the tail end of one of [the] dark periods in America's history. Slavery had long been abolished, but widespread racism remained. The civil rights movement was on the verge of completely transforming the social landscape, but such change often comes slowly. And today, decades later, I can still pinpoint the moment when I came of age regarding racism in America.
Franklin Park is where Ben Carson "came of age regarding racism in America."
My brother and I were playing in Franklin Park in the Roxbury section of Boston when I wandered away alone under a bridge, where a group of older white boys approached me and began calling me names.
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'Let's drown him in the lake.' |
"Hey, boy, we don't allow your kind over here," one of them said. He looked at the others. "Let's drown him in the lake." I could tell they weren't just taunting me, trying to scare me. They were serious, and I turned and ran from there faster than I had ever run before in my life...
Constant Reminders
Growing up, we faced constant reminders of how we were less important than white people. Even some of those who claimed to be civil rights activists could be heard saying such things as, "He is so well educated and expresses himself so clearly that if you were talking to him on the telephone you would think he was white" ...
One day my uncle William was giving me a haircut in the kitchen while we watched the news on television when I saw white police unleashing ferocious dogs on groups of young black people and mowing them down with powerful water hoses. Even little children were being brutalized...
It wasn't just our inner-city neighborhood where racism flourished; I found it at school as well. [In] the eighth grade, for example ... I knew that my winning the [highest academic] award would have been an eye-opening experience for many people at Wilson Junior High School, since I was the only black student in the class... One of the other teachers was so upset about this that she literally chastised all the white students at the award ceremony in front of the entire school for allowing a black student to outperform them academically. The scene is depicted in the movie about my life, Gifted Hands, although in reality she ranted and raved a lot longer than the movie suggested...
My Own Personal Civil Rights Movement
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I had to combat feelings of superiority, which proved to be just as difficult as the task of fighting off an inferiority complex. |
These teachers and some of the students ... triggered in me a strong desire to start my own personal civil rights movement to show everyone that I was just as good as they were by doing better than they did in school. As my academic awards and accomplishments continued to pile up, I had to combat feelings of superiority, which proved to be just as difficult as the task of fighting off an inferiority complex...
In April of 1968, on the day after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, a major riot broke out at my high school in inner-city Detroit. Most of the black students were so outraged that they were trying to physically harm anyone who was white. Some very serious beatings took place, and I saw many of my white friends being harassed. The student population of the school was about 70 percent black, so the white students did not have much of a chance. At the time, I held a job as the biology laboratory assistant setting up experiments for the other students. The department even trusted me with a key to the science classrooms and the greenhouse. So during the riot, I used that key to open the greenhouse and hide several white students during the melee.
By that time in my life, I understood the extent of racism in America, but I also was beginning to have hope for the future. Having lived and studied among both black and white cultures, I knew that there are good white and black people and there are bad white and black people. It mattered not what color your skin was on the outside, but rather what the condition was of your heart and mind inside. And as I better understood human nature, I felt more emboldened to do things differently than everybody else and to chart my own course for a successful life...
America's Challenge Today
While many nations lean on their past to give them a sense of accomplishment, the United States has a history of redefining itself and moving forward to ensure that there is indeed liberty and justice for all...
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Freedom is an elusive bird... progressively distancing itself from complacency. |
Freedom is an elusive bird, constantly on the move, progressively distancing itself from complacency. Do we value our freedom enough to pursue it, or have we lost our way without realizing it? Do we benefit from the principles that established this nation without understanding them?
What will we as America's citizens write in this next chapter of our history? Will we settle for being herded by our leaders' understanding of what is best for us? Or will "we the people" once again rally together, educating ourselves as to the best possible solutions for a way forward, communicating to our leaders our collective desires, and demonstrating that we truly are a nation that rebels for positive change?
- Ben Carson
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Learn more about America the Beautiful.
(Image & some header styling are web-exclusive features not included in the text of America the Beautiful. Image attribution: Ellicottadale through Ellicott Arch, Franklin Park. Courtesy of National Park Service, Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Park. This post does not represent the views of Zondervan or any of its representatives. The writer's personal opinions are shared only for information purposes. To receive new Zondervan Blog posts in your reader or email inbox, subscribe to Zondervan Blog.)
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