# data[].attributes.headline
President Obama says more work needed to close racial gap in US (MARVEL!)

# data[].attributes.subject
President Obama says more work needed to close racial gap in US (MARVEL!)

# data[].attributes.body
In this speech, by President Obama, the real effects of racism are shown through opportunity and wage. Obama discusses the huge pay gaps between white and black citizens due to color, showing that the lack of opportunity for blacks, causes extreme financial issues. Race used to effect many aspects of society such as, who someone worked for, where they worked, their pay or lack of pay, and their level in society. Today, it is still incredibly clear that color continues to effect the workplace, especially pay. People like to believe that we have improved as a country, to grow and support opportunity for everyone, but we have clearly not advanced far at all, because these issues are still prevalent almost 200 years later. Opportunity, one of America's greatest "accomplishments", is creating racism, and is causing an unequal balance in society. America may claim there is opportunity, but the benefit is only for those who have white enough skin to grasp.

# data[].attributes.headline
How WHITE PRIVILEGE is Holding Back NH (MARVEL!)

# data[].attributes.subject
How WHITE PRIVILEGE is Holding Back NH (MARVEL!)

# data[].attributes.body
In this article by the Business New Hampshire Magazine, it is clear to see that issues of race not only affect our whole country, but also close to home. The article discusses the uncomfortable atmosphere caused by the discussion of race in New Hampshire that that most likely exist because of the lack of colored people. Issues implanted around the time "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" was written, still cause major societal issues today. Our country began as a racist society, enslaving blacks for almost a century, and it created the basis that blacks were less than whites which still is seen today in New Hampshire. If racial issues and divisions were completely gone, we would not have an overwhelming majority of whites in the north, and this article brings those issues we don't truly notice, into light. All people should be able to feel comfortable in any environment, but due to the lack of equality in  America, not everyone can feel secure where they live.

# data[].attributes.headline
Julia Weber / white mother of a black son / San Francisco

# data[].attributes.subject
Julia Weber / white mother of a black son / San Francisco

# data[].attributes.body
Julia Weber's story sent to The New York Times clearly shows the existence of racism today. As adults, many citizens in America believe racism is over with and the blacks have nothing to complain about, however it is clearly seen the messages these parents are passing on to their children are creating the racist bullying we see today. Parents and families don't seem to understand that what they teach their children, contributes to their child's personality and interactions with others. These interactions children have, as clearly seen in Julia Weber's story, can do great harm, and it forces the parents to explain that some people see them as less than. This story, not only shows the problems in today's society with race, but also that we truly have a long ways to go before race can not be a problem anymore.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Credit Credit Tim Lahan

Our These responses have been lightly edited for space and style.
Race/Related reporting project asked for your stories about race and education. Here are excerpts of what a handful of parents, teachers and students of pre-k - 12 had to say about how race and diversity are being discussed in schools and at home.
I am a parent of a fourth grader and kindergartner. I'm also an urban sociology professor. I do research on race. I live in Brooklyn because I thought it would alleviate me and my children from some of the scars of racism, at least those that I experienced growing up in, of all places, Puerto Rico.

I've avoided many cities and we've created a strong diverse community in Brooklyn, where my kids see their reflection. But they are not immune. They go to an elite private school where there are few faces that look like them. And my daughter (fourth grade) knows that she's the only black girl in her grade. She wonders why. And I explain, or at least try to explain, inequality.

I took both my children to Black Lives Matter. They know they matter. But their life is already questioned. In a trip to the beach, kids told them they didn't want their "black feet" in their sand pool. They hurt. Would people want an extra cleaning of the cabin we stayed in if they found out a black Latino family had been there, they ask? It's inequality and injustice we (the parents) say. And slowly we tease out the difficult interpretations of when and how race matters.

It's a lifelong project, though I wish it wasn't. I wish my kids didn't have wonder whether they would be rejected at the playground, whether their feet were clean enough to be celebrated. At home, I'm thinking of opening the space for intimate conversations between families of different backgrounds. That doesn't happen nearly enough. I'm doing it with a trusted friend. Perhaps it will make for a better world.
Zaire Dinzey-Flores / 43 / black Latina / Brooklyn *
We just moved from New York City and have twin four-year-old girls (bi-racial: white/black). Moving from an area where so many brown people surrounded us to a suburban white town prompted the twins to take notice of their different skin color. We had this conversation the other night.

Ryan said: "There is only one other brown boy at our school... I want to grow up and be white like you, mommy." And I cried hard after I put them to sleep but not before having a long talk about beautiful brown women and watching YouTube videos of the brown Olympic gymnasts and the American Ballet Theater's first brown principal dancer.

Before I left the room, Ryan clarifies: "Mommy, I think we should call Lucy (her best friend) and tell her it's O.K. to be white even if she stays that color her whole life. She is probably upset that she can't be brown like me."

I say: "Oops, mommy didn't mean you're 'better,' honey, just a different shade like how a rainbow has different colors and each color is good and important. So I think Lucy likes her color just like she likes yours and you like hers and mommy's."

Ryan again clarifies: "Well, if we are like a rainbow, then Lucy and I can pick our colors when we grow up but I want to be red."

I say: "O.K. Ry, we'll see if we can work something out."
Cassie Herr / 33 / white / Carmel, Ind.*
Elaine Sage / 60 / Caucasian / Evanston, Ill. *
I read books that are written by diverse authors. Also, books that tell the stories/history of people of color in our country and other countries. This year our school is partnering with Poetry Pals, an organization that links Christian, Muslim, and Jewish schools together. Their goal is to learn about each other's faiths through poetry and discussion.
James Leed / 60 / Caucasian / Cape Town, South Africa *
There is a profound difference between diversity and transformation. Diversity is in the head and can be measured by ticking boxes on paper. Transformation requires embodiment. It is about our individual and collective hearts and guts, and requires vulnerability and a willingness to grow and change. This is what our schools can engage students in. But we need to really listen to young people's experience.
Paula / African-American / Atlanta *
I am raising two African-American sons. The police brutality against African-American males has made me realize that I have to have conversations with my children about what they can and cannot do in this world. My oldest son is away for his first year at boarding school. Our conversations have centered around teaching him that he does not have the privilege to do what his peers of other races can do. Things he say and do can and will be interpreted differently simply because of the color of his skin. Something as simple as jaywalking can have different ramifications for him compared with his peers.

Our K-8 school placed equity and social justice at the center of everything it did. Diversity was noticed, recognized, learned about, and celebrated. It was individualized, too. That is, because we had students and families for whom English was not their first language, newsletters, meetings, and other events were translated. Students learned about specific groups of people, studying slavery, colonialism, and civil rights movements. There was no gifted program because all the children were viewed as gifted, with different talents and learning requirements. There was a commitment to equity and language used to talk about race, class, and more explicitly.

Similarly, at his high school, race is discussed explicitly, with a focus on equity and social justice and a deep commitment to creating a learning environment that produces critical, well-informed citizens who have strong identities and see themselves as playing a role in collaboratively creating community; not being better than, or superior over other races or groups of people.

Students take Ethnic Studies and other courses on identity, learn about other races through events and courses, and leadership uses data and best practices to look at and reduce the achievement gap. There is a wellness center on campus so if students need rest, food, or support, they can get it. There are celebrations, a Black Student Union, and teachers who are trained to teach against racism. There is a great deal of effort put into how the school is run and courses taught as well as on what the material covers. There is research on how to create a supportive school environment and these schools read it. And we have people of color in leadership positions.

Julia Weber / 49 / white mother of a black son / San Francisco *
I sat with my daughter and granddaughter on a blanket at Old Orchard Beach in Maine. My granddaughter, Lily, is 8. She shared a disappointing story about an incident in her school. She lives in Portland, Me. with her mother and stepfather. Her biological father is from Trinidad and my daughter is white. Lily's dark skin is one of her most beautiful features, but a peer in school didn't think so. She told me that her classmate called her the N-word at recess and her feelings were hurt. I don't get many opportunities for teachable moments with her, because I live almost two hours away in New Hampshire. But this one was especially timely. I said "look around the beach. You know why people in Maine come to the beach? They don't come to swim. The water is too cold."

Her eyes panned the sea of white-skinned people laying on blankets or sitting on chairs. "They come to get tan - to get darker. Darker skin is seen as an item of beauty to white people laying on the beach." She got it. "You mean they are hoping to look like me?" I nodded. "So the next time your classmate harasses you, tell them you aren't ashamed of the color of your skin, because there is an entire industry dedicated to helping people get darker. It's called tanning lotion and it's something you never have to spend a dime on." She smiled, "how about if I just tell the teacher on him?" She laid her head on my arm, and said quietly, "thanks Grampa."
Michael Daniele / 57 / Caucasian / Northwood, N.H. *
I am a parent and an educator. Every day I see children suffer because of their race. The go without so many basic things and while it looks like a result of socio-economic issues... I can't ignore that most of the haves are white and the have-nots are black. I have not discussed much about race at home or with my students. I don't want to give my daughter a complex because she attends a majority-white school. I don't discuss it with my own students because I want my job.

If I could be honest, I would tell both my students and my daughter that there are people out there who think less of you because you are black. They think you aren't as smart, aren't as hard working or as worthy of success as they are. Why? Because their families used to own our families. Why would I tell them this? Because they need to know why things are the way they are. I work in a majority-black school and I don't see nearly enough done to lift the esteem of these often destitute black children.
Jaynaia Griggs / 35 / African-American / Charleston, S.C. *
I live in a very homogeneous town with 91-percent whites according to 2010 Census and negligible percentage of Asian-Americans. I have three boys (ages 12,10, 5) and the two older ones in school have experienced far too many racial bias, prejudice and discrimination to fit into this text box. Being a minority in this town and America means having to have a conversation about diversity or lack of, almost on a daily basis. It's gotten to the point where my children don't share some of the incidents that happen at school with me because my wife and I erupt with frustration at the situation, the school and the community we live in.

We are constantly evaluating our continued residence in this town and considering a move to someplace more diverse. That said, we do use current events (i.e. police shootings, racial profiling) as an opportunity to discuss race and how even though as Asian-Americans we don't experience the same type of racism as African-Americans, it still manifests itself in different ways and are damaging to personal development. We try to be balance the pros and cons of being "different" in America when having conversations about race with our children.

What is extremely upsetting and discouraging is the lack of progress made I've witnessed in my lifetime. I immigrated to American when I was 7 years old. I, along with my parents did not speak any English at the time and were not aware of the many cultural nuances of being an American (i.e. clothing, food, etc.) So I can see how I stood out and was victim to racially motivated bias or bullying in school. However, my children are fully "American" as any other child in this town having the benefit of our education, wealth, cultural and English fluency. And yet, my boys are asked by their peers about their race when no other white kid is asked the same question. One white mother shared with me that her son was concerned about being invited to dinner by my child because he assumed we would serve something that was foreign to him. I made chicken Parmesan and pasta. This may be a benign symptom of his ignorance but it manifests itself in other ways in the classroom and on the playground.
Bob Kim / 45 / Korean-American / Chatham, N.J. *
We have an administration at my school that really wants more diversity in A.P. and honors classes. What they've said the problem is when I've talked some teachers and administrators is that there are many outside social factors that affects students of color in school. My school doesn't really openly talk about race. We are seen as being a diverse school because we have a large population of African-American students, but the problem is we have a lot of self-segregation. I think we still see race as a taboo topic. We have really great newspaper at my school and. occasionally, they will do really good articles on the topic of race in the classroom, but those articles don't cause much change and there are very few people of color on the newspaper staff. My school is sometimes seen as having two schools within it: one for white students and one for black students. I think if my school talked about race, we could have a better environment in our classes.
Ali Bouterse / 17 / white / Atlanta *
Growing up in Los Angeles, the community is much more diverse than other parts of the country. I've lived in a Hispanic- and Asian-majority community for my entire life. Kids are exposed to virtually all races and cultures as a child. At the elementary school I went to, the school would regularly celebrate Chinese New Year and Cinco de Mayo. I remember who we would learn about different cultures around the world in kindergarten. However, kids can also be very vicious when it comes to race without even knowing it. After 9/11, I recall the Middle Eastern children in the school being treated much more harshly. They would be teased as being terrorists, and I don't recall a lot of intervention from adults in these issues. Elementary schools are definitely more vicious when it comes to racial matters, as kids reciprocate what they see on TV, throwing racially charged comments even without realizing the true meaning behind them.

High school life was much better. My high school was inclusive of a lot of cultures, and many students were very forward thinking. Imagine someone like me, who essentially grew up as a weaker Asian kid in elementary school, suddenly being talked to by people that the "mainstream" world would consider as "school bullies." I got along with senior students that were part of the cholo culture, who would look out for me for essentially nothing in return but my friendship. What's better was that I didn't need to change who I was. I continued hanging with my friends from elementary school who were part of my "nerd" clique. People were allowed to be open about who they were, and nobody was made fun of for their race. I didn't encounter my first case of racism until I traveled out of the country.

Looking back, I felt that kids in elementary school need to be actively taught about racial tolerance. The biggest influence in children's lives is TV, and there is a lot of racially biased content. It's up to schools to encourage to be open-minded and tolerant.
Vincent Teong / 25 / Asian-American / Los Angeles *
I have been really pleased with how Denali Montessori Elementary, a public school in Anchorage, Alaska, celebrates and acknowledges the incredible diversity in the student body. From the principal's introduction in talking about the strengths of the school, to the lessons taught in the classroom, to special events on campus, the celebration of diversity is front and center. My first-grade daughter is learning stories from around the world with kids from many cultural backgrounds. Geography is a cornerstone of the curriculum. I think this makes the world feel smaller and more known. Regular school events celebrate and teach about cultures from around the world. I think my daughter will have a very positive and sophisticated understanding of what culture means and the value of diversity before she even goes to middle school.
Megan Richotte / 40 / white / Anchorage, Ala. *
We have a week at school to teach about racism terms, and concepts. These things are talked about in their academic classes, but we do this to bring the school together. It's not nearly enough. I serve on our school's equity team, which meets monthly. Our district has varying degrees of support from year to year to address how we work with racism in our institutions and our individual/cultural biases (either conscious or unconscious bias).

Students do not currently have a forum to talk about racism and how it affects them. I hope to start something to support students as they navigate this challenging terrain. I want to be sure my students are equipped with the terms and concepts to help talk about race, and to be able to navigate their feelings and PTSD around racism.
Abigail Alwin / 42/ white / Ann Arbor, Mich. *
As an educator, issues about race arise regularly in classrooms. For example, a 1st grader told a classmate, "Your backpack can't touch mine because you're black." Our teachers receive pre-service training in how to address racial issues in the classroom. In the example provided, most teachers would've shut down the conversation with a forced apology.

At our school, we unpack the comment to understand where it comes from. The child ended up explaining that his mom taught him that all black people are dirty and that's why he didn't want him to touch the backpack. After a brief discussion about what it feels like to hear those words and the invalidity of the notion, the offender asked for forgiveness.
Cynthia Rosario / 46 / Latina / Yonkers, N.Y. *
There are daily occurrences that prompt discussions of race with my child. Every day she is faced with the negative imagery and society's acceptance of a racial slur. The continued use of redskins and the images used projects the impression that her culture and history are not respected by the community.

We have worked so hard to keep our culture alive only to have those around us tell us that we are being just too sensitive and that our feelings are irrelevant. No one in schools or in the broader community addresses these issues. Once a year at Thanksgiving the American Indian community is deemed important enough to give a partial history lesson rather than celebrating our continued culture and the people we have become.
Caitlin Wesaw / American Indian / Washington, D.C. *
I just retired from the Baltimore City school system. When I arrived 13 years ago, I was supportive of Baltimore's system of "public charters;" however after 12 years of teaching in a "zone" high school, I came to see how we were offering superior alternatives to engaged urban students and/or engaged parents. That left the "collector schools," those default schools that are based on geography to gather all those students who had less motivation and/or unengaged parents. This system is nothing more than an educational "apartheid."

Despite excellent teachers, the school culture sabotaged learning. A majority of students were reading below a 6th grade level, and their focus was survival! The trauma of urban living dominated the atmosphere in the halls. The ratio of counselor to student was about 300 to 1. These kids were not in a "head-space" to learn. They were preoccupied with Mazlov's pyramid base: safety, home, food!

We need a Marshall Plan to build up these children and help them reach a plateau where they can manage their feelings and make wise choices. In every school situation there are heroes. Our school police officer was wonderful and perhaps the most trusted adult in the school. And, there were those students, despite the obstacles, kept their eyes on the prize and headed out to into the world as competent learners...preparing for life!
Tom Owen Smith / 71 / white / Reston, Va. *
As a teacher of international school students, I find they're generally very open-minded and easygoing about race; current high school students more so than ever. There are still sometimes cases where children are not - and there's a hierarchy to it - with lightest skinned and boys at the top and darkest skin and girls at the bottom.

I teach in elementary school, and in my classroom I try to disrupt that hierarchy by valuing all of my students and inviting them to bring their own home life and experiences into the classroom. Young children do notice differences in skin color and I model how great I think that is.

I also directly teach respectful language: How to agree and disagree respectfully and how to ask questions respectfully and show interest about the unfamiliar and about preferences. I think that children need to be given the language to have their own open conversations about race and culture, which is not what I experienced as a child.
Jessica Shiffman / 48 / white / Hamburg, Germany

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Readers' Stories About Race and Education

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Our These responses have been lightly edited for space and style. Race/Related reporting project asked for your stories about race and education . Here are excerpts of what a handful of parents, teachers and students of pre-k - 12 had to say about how race and diversity are being discussed in schools and at home.

# data[].attributes.headline
Using Photography to Tell Stories About Race

# data[].attributes.subject
Using Photography to Tell Stories About Race

# data[].attributes.body
In this article by Maurice Berger, we see the perspective of race from a white, gay, and Jewish man. He claims when he was younger, he was faced with the problem of being looked down upon, not because of his Jewish background, but because he was friends with an African American. Society sees two friends of different backgrounds and color as improper, not because its not classical, but because some believe blacks are still lower than whites. This bullying occurs everyday, not only from students, but also from adults, contributing to the lack of equality. Berger uses photography to show this imbalance by providing images and history, to show how long racism has been in existence and how little change there has been. No one should be looked down upon because they are friends with a particular person, but it is vital to end the racial divide society has put in place so no one will be oppressed due to their race.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
I stood in the lunchroom doorway with my friend Kevin, bewildered. It was our first week at the High School of Music and Art, a West Harlem public school, and we had become instant friends. Still, I did not know where I belonged in a room that had casually self-segregated into racial camps where "minority" teens gravitated to one side, whites to the other.

Apparently, in 1971, the choice was simple for most of our classmates. But less so for me. I knew I wanted to sit with Kevin. But while we both lived in low-income housing projects, we differed in one significant way: Kevin was black and I was white. After a white student told us we did not belong on her side, my mind was made up: We headed to the "Black Side," as we called it, where we ate until the lunchroom gradually integrated during our freshman year.

This story comes to mind whenever I'm asked why I write about race and photography. I return to it because where I sat in that divided lunchroom says a lot about my relationship to race and my lifelong fascination with it. My sister and I were among the few white kids in our predominantly black and Puerto Rican housing project on the Lower East Side. Except for a harrowing stint at a Jewish day school, where I was tormented for being poor, my classmates and my young neighbors and friends, were all people of color. They allowed me into their lives, and I learned a lot from them.

But it was the prejudice they experienced, and I observed, that provided my most eye-opening lesson.

As a Jew, I have known anti-Semitism. As a gay man, I have known homophobia. But neither has seemed as relentless as the racism I witnessed growing up - a steady drumbeat of slights, thinly-veiled hostility and condescension perpetrated by even the most liberal and well-meaning people. It was painful to watch, and as my friends let me know, considerably more painful to endure.

Continually observing this reality shaped how I understood racism: When people told me they had experienced prejudice, I believed them. I had rejected the liberal tendency to defensively dismiss the victim to protect the accused.

My childhood also exposed me to cultures and histories that most white people were oblivious to, even if they lived in an international city. I learned about these things from my friends, classmates, teachers and my socially conscious father. As my activism and passion grew, so did my solidarity with the Lower East Side. But my enthusiasm was dampened at Music and Art, where my poverty again alienated me from some of my teachers and classmates.

Out of embarrassment, I hid my background and interest in race.

My freshman advisor at Hunter College, certain that the study of race was inconsistent with my "cultivated mind," as she put it, persuaded me to focus on art history. My studies in college, and later in graduate school, completed my transformation from Project Boy to Cultured White Man. I was conditioned by my art history professors to believe that only the work of white people mattered. I engaged a mainstream art world - museums, galleries, collectors, and publishers - that viewed artists of color as sentimental or irrelevant at best, but more often as inept and dull. I eventually accepted these racist myths, even as I continued to live in the projects.

But I also experienced another awakening: I learned how to see.

My mentors in art history were rigorous and demanding, teaching me to visually analyze paintings and photographs, both to appreciate their aesthetics and to grasp their underlying cultural meaning. I was trained to "deconstruct" images, to evaluate the ways they advanced an agenda or manipulated or inspired viewers. But my teachers were oblivious to artists and photographers of color and work about race, a deficiency I inherited from them.

Yet my roots tugged at me as I started to miss the ardor and conviction of my youth. The art world that once seemed glamorous and exciting now was insufferable in its casual and deeply ingrained bigotry, elitism and allegiance to wealth. I picked up books by intellectuals ignored by my professors - brilliant race writers, like W.E.B. Du Bois, James Baldwin, and Frantz Fanon, who were deconstructing the world years before the scholars I had been assigned to read in school. I engaged new colleagues and researched new artists. And I began doing projects about race, relearning how to see and comprehend it through pictures.

In the summer of 2012, after a quarter century of publishing articles and books and curating exhibitions that reconciled the insights of my formal education with those of my life, I started writing Race Stories. I think of it as a learning experience, for me and the reader, fostering the racial and visual literacy denied me by my teachers.

My relationship with the art world remains tenuous. While some things have changed - art history has become more inclusive, for example, and a few artists of color have become superstars - the problem of racism persists. Recently, I attended a dinner in an expensive restaurant celebrating a friend's New York museum retrospective, and the scene was typical and dispiriting: A sea of affluent white people dressed in black.

These days, I rarely go to events like this. In their segregation, they bring me back to the contentious lunchroom where, as a bewildered teenager, I pushed beyond the imposed limitations of my race. But in situations like this dinner, there is no "black side" to which I can retreat, no haven that even remotely resembles the life I lived or the one I live now.
In the slideshow above, the author selects and writes about some of his favorite photographs explored in the Race Stories series.
Maurice Berger is a research professor and the chief curator at the Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Follow @nytimesphoto on Twitter. You can also find Lens on Facebook and Instagram.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Using Photography to Tell Stories About Race

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
I stood in the lunchroom doorway with my friend Kevin, bewildered. It was our first week at the High School of Music and Art, a West Harlem public school, and we had become instant friends. Still, I did not know where I belonged in a room that had casually self-segregated into racial camps where "minority" teens gravitated to one side, whites to the other.

# data[].attributes.body
In this poem, the life of a colored person is seen for all its horror. The author of this poem describes America, not as a country of opportunity and success, but as oppressive and violent. America, for the life of a colored person is hard and not at all what American society makes it out to be. This is similar to life after the civil war, because white people believed blacks had it easy after the war, making them "equal" with others, when in reality, whites did not know what colored people dealt with throughout their life. As whites, we see America as having great opportunity because we can go anywhere, knowing we aren't going to be judged for our looks. Blacks however, can not relate, and actually fear where they may go due to the racism and lack of kindness in certain areas. Today's society does not realize the problems colored people face because we choose to overlook it, when we should really be taking steps forward to improve America, as the poem states.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A for all the times I've been profiled for my skin color. M for making me feel unwanted and undeserving to live in a county known as the "land of the free". E for everyone locked away just for being dark or just for looking "suspicious".

# data[].attributes.body
Alex Dang uses emotion and emphases of his words to show how stereotyping and classic "grouping of cultures" affects many. He reveals to the audience information not all Americans know about people that come from Asian countries, and also portrays the idea that many Americans truly do not know the struggle. This reminds me of the book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn because slaves are also grouped together as one. Some do not know their original heritage, but others do, and by grouping them as "slaves" in the early times of our country, shows lack of respect, care, and acceptance for these people. Today, as Dang speaks, it is still clear to see these issues are still prominent, and shows America still lacks acceptance for immigrants. No one should have to face a drastic change in their life, however it makes it so much harder for immigrants when they are not only faced with a new country, but also the realization that they will not be accepted.

# data[].attributes.body
In this article by Micheal Harriot, he explains how the Irish went from low life scum, to where they are today. At the time the Irish first came over, they were seen as just as bad as African Americans, and were the "missing link" between whites and blacks. This description of Irish people is seen as very different from today's perspective of the group. He claims, the Irish had to earn "whiteness" and "white privilege" , however, this was easy, due to the color of their skin, and for blacks, this would never be possible due to the large color difference. It is sad to think that society is truly based off color, however, it is clear to see in this article that it really is. Whiteness and racism are traditions in America, due to the fact that white supremacy still reigns and blacks are still seen as less than whites. Harriot, uses the Irish to show how color can affect the view of person, even in today's society and acceptance.

# data[].attributes.body
This poem, by Maya Angelou, connects ancestry with today's society. Angelou describes members of the black community as brothers and sisters, rather than friends. By doing so, she describes the importance of racial community and support. Her use of connecting people as family, not only strengthens her argument for racial unity, but also shows how each member of their race should be treated with care, support, and love. Family is seen as one of the most important influences in American society, and by connecting blacks as family, she shows how they should care for each other and respect each other. She also uses ancestry to support her view, explaining that if their ancestors fought for their rights and struggled so one day their descendants could be happy, that the black members of society should come together and support this movement to keep progressing so one day they will be equal with whites. She does not use race as a means of separation, but rather a description of unity.

# data[].attributes.body
In this essay, the author, Toni Morrison, describes The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as disturbing, but wonderful at the same time. As black woman reading this book, I believe she feels discouraged seeing the N-word used so many times, knowing that now it is derogatory and uncommonly heard. This reminds me of the New York Times video clip series called "The N-Word". In the series, they discuss the importance of getting rid of and ending use of the N-word for good. Both Morrison, and the New York Times articles show how detrimental the N-word can be to a community of people by just making someone feel less than another. Today's society still does not realize the impact of the N-word, and Morrison's feelings on the N-word show how negatively the word, and other derogatory name calling, should be seen.

# data[].attributes.body
In these videos put together by the New York Times, it is clear to see the constant overuse and lack of understanding of the N-word. In certain areas, such as California, the N-word is used frequently due to the lack of segregation and the greater idea of unity within the community. However, in New England, the N-word is used infrequently because of the constant idea of segregation. Colored people use the N-word, to describe their feelings of connection and relationship with another. However, whites and other races, can not use this word because it is derogatory, and does not represent any connection. Some blacks disagree with the complete usage of the N-word, because they believe it is not kind nor representational of any relationship or connection. I believe this is the best option for the future use of this word, because there is no way to say the N-word in a positive light, and I liked the fact that some people of color agree with this.