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It is impossible for us to forget something major that happened in our lives.  The same applies to major events that happened in our history.

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It is impossible for us to forget something major that happened in our lives.  The same applies to major events that happened in our history.

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William Faulkner’s statement that “the past is never dead. It’s not even past” is still pertinent today.  However, Although I agree that the past may impact a person’s present, I believe that certain emotions and negative memories can be suppressed or overcome.  Although some events affect our society in a positive way, many past events hinder the positive progression of our current society, causing us to be stuck in our old beliefs and opinions.  The only way to prevent this hindrance from affecting our daily lives is to acknowledge that past events had a profound impact on ourselves or our society, and in order to progress as an individual, we must acknowledge and learn from our past.

Picture Below: Clayton Kauzlaric's Cross-Time photo of the Seattle skyline, depicting both the past and present infrastructure.

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I have experienced this situation firsthand.

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I have experienced this situation firsthand.

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When I was seven years old, my family and I were involved in a severe car accident.  We were extremely lucky to survive the crash.  After this traumatic event, I was forced to reevaluate my position on life and family.  My perception and appreciation for life changed completely.  I learned to be more cautious and careful of my surroundings.  To this day, I am still impacted by this event and it impacts every decision and action that I make.  However, it was not impossible to conquer my fear and anxiety.  By directly addressing the accident and learning to accept it as a thing of the past, I was able to slowly overcome my nervousness.  In this sense, by properly learning and adapting from past issues, I have strengthened as an individual, since I overcame the traumatic emotions of my past while still learning useful lessons that can help me in the future.

Below: Car Accident Picture

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This phenomenon is also reflected in the book Beloved, by Toni Morrison.

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This phenomenon is also reflected in the book Beloved, by Toni Morrison.

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In this book, Beloved returns from the dead as a remnant of Sethe’s past wrongdoings.  During the events that ensue, Beloved ultimately becomes a serious hindrance to Sethe and Denver. However, Sethe is unwilling to forget her past, hence why she continues to shelter Beloved.  This mistake leads to a tremendous degradation in Sethe that is only eradicated once Beloved is driven away.  Beloved causes Sethe to confuse her past events with the present.  This occurs when Sethe accidentally recognizes Mr. Bodwin as schoolteacher and begins to attack him (Morrison).  However, when Sethe properly acknowledges and deals with her, she stops suffering.  This event proves that in order to move on with your life, you must not only acknowledge the past, but you must also work to move on from the past in order to live prosperously in the present.  If you achieve this, not only will you be able to move on from traumatic past events, but you will also strengthen as an individual by increasing your level of experience.

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Consider the many inhumane actions that have taken place during our cultural past, both historical and recent.

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Consider the many inhumane actions that have taken place during our cultural past, both historical and recent.

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Slavery was a very impactful event that occurred in our nation’s past.  From 1526 to 1867, the Atlantic Slave Trade forced nearly twelve million Africans out of their homes to be sold as slaves in America (Mintz).  Even today, slavery remains a very important part of America’s history and culture. Our nation is plagued with countless acts of violence and brutality.  Recently, our own state of North Carolina was affected.  On September 21st, 2016, a protester in Charlotte was shot while protesting the death of Keith Lamont Scott, who was fatally shot by authorities while he was in his vehicle (Lavandera, et al.).  Crimes such as these further prove that our country is still profoundly impacted by the effects of slavery, racial injustice, and discrimination.  Our current race relations in America are continuing to worsen.  A recent poll conducted by ABC found that sixty three percent of Americans believe that race relations have worsened.  In fact, Krissah Thompson and Scott Clement claim that “The recent rise in concern about race relations has been primarily driven by [those who] have been skeptical of seeing racial discrimination as a national problem.”  This underlines the idea that an individual or society cannot move on from a past event, unless they address the situations by openly admitting the mistakes that were previously made, and learning to accept them.  The events of slavery will never escape our history, but we can learn from our mistakes to improve the way our country functions.

Chart: The chart below is based on random polling, and suggests that most people generally believe that race relations are beginning to worsen.

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Opinions of Race Relations Through the Perspectives of Different Racial Groups

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Opinions of Race Relations Through the Perspectives of Different Racial Groups

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Chart: Poll of different races and their beliefs on current race relations

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Some may argue that some of these past events cannot be overcome, even if we try to acknowledge and learn from them.

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Some may argue that some of these past events cannot be overcome, even if we try to acknowledge and learn from them.

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They cite that certain tragic events in our past (terrorist attacks, for example) have stayed in our memories, regardless of how much we try to move on from them.  Although I acknowledge that events such as these cannot be forgotten,  I believe that the reason we cannot forget certain events is due to the massive impact that these events left in our society.  Events such as these leave an impact of great magnitude, yet we can still slowly overcome the emotional and mental trauma that resulted from this event.  Certain past events can never be made “dead”, but our perceptions can change, allowing us to learn and improve from the past.

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We cannot help but accept that our current lives have been shaped and changed by events that have previously happened, and they will continue to change for the rest of our lives.

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We cannot help but accept that our current lives have been shaped and changed by events that have previously happened, and they will continue to change for the rest of our lives.

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We can only learn to live with these changes, and accept the fact that, like it or not, they will impact our knowledge and actions forever.  William Faulkner’s statement is unquestionably accurate and relatable, and our actions and experiences prove that the past “is never dead, it’s not even past” (Faulkner).  It is our past knowledge and experience that shapes us to be who we are today, and without our past, we would not have a future to look forward to.

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Works Cited

Faulkner, William. Requiem for a Nun. Random House, 1951.

Kauzlaric, Clayton. "Cross-Time Photos Show Snapshots of Seattle's
Past and Present, Side by Side." KNKX, 18 Sept. 2014. Accessed 7
Nov. 2016.

Lavandera, Ed, et al. "One person shot during violent Charlotte protest;
officer hurt."  CNN, 2016 Cable News Network, 21 Sept. 2016
Accessed 17 Oct. 2016.

Mintz, Steven. "Facts about the Slave Trade and Slavery." The Gilder
Lehrman Institute of American History, 2011. Accessed 17 Oct.
2016.

Morrison, Toni. Beloved. Alfred A. Knopf, 1987.

Thompson, Krissah, and Scott Clement. "Poll: Majority of Americans
think race relations are getting worse." The Washington Post, 16
July 2016. Accessed 2 Nov. 2016.