Discrimination: Then and Now

When I read a book, I sometimes imagine myself standing right beside the characters watching everything happen. Usually when I'm that deep into the text, I just enjoy the adventure and go along with things. However, after imagining myself in this story, I started thinking, "Damn, if I were there, someone would have a broken jaw. (Insert expletives of your choice here)." 

You see, I became absolutely infuriated in the very beginning when the men made little Harry dance around, do tricks, and sing while constantly calling him "Jim Crow." They were treating him like an animal simply because of his skin color. Now, I understand that this is just "how it was" back then. I understand it was the cultural norm for whites have to superiority, but it still just makes my heart ache. It should never have been the norm.

So this got me thinking... There is still A LOT of negativity towards people who are different. How much has it really changed? True, we no longer have slavery, but we do still have plenty of hate groups. And I'm not only speaking of racial discrimination. Plenty of people discriminate based on gender, sexual orientation, social class, ability/disability, and pretty much any other classification that's not "straight white male." 

Sometimes I fear that these bigots want to rewind time and discriminate like they did back in the day. What if being different was all of a sudden something zoo-worthy, and people would force you to dance and sing just like little Harry? What if words and names like "Jim Crow," the "N" word, and "faggot" (ugh, I hate those words) were no longer uproar-inducing negative phrases, but became part of the normal conversation? These thoughts absolutely terrify me, but they definitely make me want to continue to fight hard for equality for all.