Never Leave Your Past Behind Analysis

Melton McLaurin, in his book, “Separate Pasts,” recalls memories of growing up in his hometown of Wade, North Carolina. During this time, McLaurin works in his grandfather’s store in the segregated South. McLaurin writes of his interactions with the black community and observes the segregated lifestyle of black and whites. In his book “Separate Pasts,” McLaurin describes the black citizens of Wade that have influenced and changed his views of segregation and racism.

The American Revolutionary war began in-part because of economic struggles England faced after securing safety for it’s colonies during the Seven Years War. England needed to increase their taxation on the colonists after the war to pay off its war debts. Prior to these taxes, the colonies were wholly content while under the wing of the British Empire. Not only because the protection the British provided, but also because of their deep reverence for the Motherland. Colonists were angered by with Parliament due to their lack of acknowledgement towards colonists rights and opinions. Colonists stood together in a defiant motion towards liberation from England’s tyrannous acts of lawless duplicity. Before British government was able to fully

I was late for school, and my father had to walk me in to class so that my teacher would know the reason for my tardiness. My dad opened the door to my classroom, and there was a hush of silence. Everyone's eyes were fixed on my father and me. He told the teacher why I was late, gave me a kiss goodbye and left for work. As I sat down at my seat, all of my so-called friends called me names and teased me. The students teased me not because I was late, but because my father was black. They were too young to understand. All of this time, they thought that I was white, because I had fare skin like them, therefore I had to be white. Growing up having a white mother and a black father was tough. To

Even in the emotional support and compassionate partnership of a family, money can dominate the well-being and status of both the parent and child. In most cases, you either get financial support from your family and relatives or their emotional and courageous support, but it is rarely likely that a family member that gets the best of both worlds. In Grestel and Sarkisian’s ‘the Color of Family Ties” Blacks and Latino(as) are more likely to get along with extended relatives rather than their White counterparts, but on the other hand, Whites are more likely to give and receive financial aid from their relatives than their non-Whites (49). However, not all Whites are rich and not all non-Whites are poor, so by placing them in the same income, level of education, and along the scenarios of family matters, and the results show a different story. To impoverished Whites, like their non-White counterparts, would more likely ask for help on their basic needs and visit their families more often (51). While middle-class non-Whites would talk more about “personal concerns or share money with relatives than are their poorer counterparts.” (51) This data read made an interjection to my personal life due to the fact that even though I am systematically poor than the majority of my family, I still gain both financial and moral support in my family because it’s just a special case that they’re willing to help me

When I mention support, I does not mean that we need to support each other economically, a family can support each other in a lot of different ways. In Gary Soto’s story, they are poor, so they support each other in the way that they are always there for each other and never let their family down. An example from Soto’s story is: “He needed five cents to make fifteen, the cost of admission, and I lent him a nickel… my sister found out that we were going swimming, she started to cry because she didn’t have the fifteen cent… I waved for her to come” (24). This is a perfect example of support and happiness, the big brother gave up money that he earned, to let Little John and his little sister come and swim with him. No one forced him to do that, but he realized that their happiness is more worth than something tiny as money. This was just one example of how a family can support each other. Something that is important to bring up, that happiness and trust is the key to support each other. There is a difference between a “family” and a “successful family”, because a family, no matter what, they will always be your family, even if you never talk or have connection with them. However, a successful family is something special, it is something that cannot get exchange for anything in this world. The love, trust, support, closeness, happiness, and everything else

     The African-American family is defined as networks of households related by blood, marriage, or function that provide basic instrumental and expressive functions of the family to the members of those networks (Hill, 1999). It is one of the strongest institutions throughout history, and still today. Family strengths are considered to be cultural assets that are transmitted through socialization from generation to generation and not merely adaptations or coping responses to contemporary racial or economic oppression (McDaniel 1994; Hill 1999). This definition is contrary to the belief that the Black family is an adaptation to harsh conditions, instead of an ongoing establishment. Hill (1999) discusses

Growing up, my family lived in a inner-city, working-class neighborhood. While my neighborhood had its many issues, it was still a safe and supportive place in which to grow up because I was surrounded by others who looked like me. However, in

I was born and raised in the small but growing city of Perris, CA. This isn’t the best city out there but it tends to grow on you, and you begin to truly love it for what it is. The people, however, not so much. The community can vary from which part of the city you’re in. That’s because there’s diversity here in Perris. I’m a product of this diversity, being half Mexican and half African American. My parents fell in love after high school and later on began a family. I am the youngest of five. I have two older brothers, an older sister, and an older cousin who lives with us. The order is boy, girl, boy, boy, girl with my cousin being included in there too. We all live in the same house with my parents and are quite close with each other. They all seem to have raised me growing up due to the fact that my parents were busy trying to provide for us. This was a challenge by itself, resulting in lots of house moving and my father being unemployed for six years after losing his job. I never complained about moving because I knew that my parents were doing their absolute best and were working with all that they had and then some. This unquestionably made me adaptable to new environments and gave me a

In other words, Gerstel and Sarkisian claim that a White family, a Black family, and a Latino/a family all within the same household income level and grade of education will exhibit similar “patterns of involvement with their extended families,” (64). The reason that many find families of a minority exhibit weaker relationships in contrast to families of the majority is simply because “Whites tend to have more income than Blacks and Latinos/as,” (65). The strength of a family’s relationships is dependent not on its race, ethnicity,

I was raised alongside my brother in the suburbs of Denver, more specifically, the city of Highlands Ranch. Whether the residents of Highlands Ranch care to admit it or not, it is one of the least diverse areas in the country. It is mainly composed of middle to upper class conservative white families where the most change they’ve had to deal with is to that of the seasons. Don’t get me wrong, Highlands Ranch is great place to live and an even better place for a kid to grow up in; its safe, full of resources, and an all around pleasant area. However, concerning diversity and the open-mindedness of the area is lacking. Thus I am extremely lucky to have had the parents that I did, for the lessons they’ve taught my brother and I concerning how to treat others different from ourselves were especially valuable.

Jewish, white, upper middle class, I have always been lucky. My surroundings remind me of this daily. Pikesville High School is a melting pot of differences, with kids from high class families with parents who attended schools like Harvard, Yale, MIT and then kids on the total other spectrum. We have students in their sophomore year of school, reading at a fifth grade level. Many of the attendees of my school have blinded themselves to these

For years, I struggled in an education system that only served to teach students of crime, where day by day, I would roam my high school hallways in search of peace, which I could only find in a few of my class rooms. I visited many schools during high school through a variety of programs that I was part of and through this I got to interact with students of more privileged high schools in New York City, where the Caucasian population was

Our community was like the one Timothy Egan described by saying, “Americans long have had gated communities,” because it was as if we were cutting of the black community from entering in with us. I feel that hindered my development as a child. I got no real experience of the outside world. There was no diversity in my life; it was like I was blind to all other things outside of the white middle class community. With that being said I still think my neighborhood helped me grow into a better man be engraving in my head good morals. Ever since I was a little kid the catholic laws or morals have been put into my head and have helped me become a better person. The people that drove these morals into my head were my friends and family. So that brings me to my second social force.

A traumatic past can shape a person’s overall view on the world. Many times, the memories of the past negatively affect the person. In the book The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, the author develops Holden’s cynical attitude by connecting him to painful memories and events such as Allie’s death, losing touch with Jane, and losing his trust in adulthood.

As the matter of fact, the racial diversity in the world is increasing day by day. However, people just need to find out how to live comfortably with other of different history’s background. It is true that the process to overcome the past between nations and the discrimination between races takes an amount of time. Nevertheless, people nowadays are opening a new chapter of life. In reality, people all over the world now do not think about the painful past, the war or whatsoever anymore; instead, they start to shake hand, make business or lifting embargoes which last decades. In the essay, “Vietnamese Youths No Longer Look Homeward” which was written by Nancy Wride focuses and reflects on young Vietnamese