This observation was posted on a blog on Monday, February 27, 2006 by a correspondent covering the aftermath of Katrina. It serves to remind us that bigotry is something that is taught and that the best solution is to teach its opposite. If Democrats ever want to be competitive again in the southern belt of formerly segregated states, we should begin the education process and contribute funding to this purpose.
The greatest lesson of all?
Randi Kaye, CNN
I've often asked myself, as I'm sure some of you have, do bad things happen for a reason? Well, in Pascagoula, Mississippi, there are three pint-sized little girls who were brought together by Hurricane Katrina. Their names are Anna, Kered and Christina, and they are third-graders at Resurrection School.
Before the storm, nearly all the students at Resurrection were white. Kered, who is black, attended St. Peter the Apostle, an all black school. But Katrina caused Kered's school to crumble, and along with it 100 years of racial separation.
St. Peter had nowhere else to turn for its students to learn, so it was decided all the students, black and white, would go to school together at Resurrection. Now, of the more than 300 students at Resurrection, 55 are black. The lesson plan is the same, but the faces sure have changed.
Little Anna told me, "I didn't think it was very fair. That's why Martin Luther King was here. I kept hoping other 'colored' kids were gonna come here." And Kered told me, about her old school, "I loved St. Peter with my whole heart. It's just that I want white friends. I couldn't take it."
It's amazing to hear such thoughts about race and prejudice from 9-year-olds. I think these girls can teach all of us, especially adults, some important lessons about acceptance and friendship. What do you think?