The New Civil Rights Movement

Civil rights was just a term I heard of in history class. In third grade, it didn’t mean much. I was more worried about my lunch. Civil rights was on a slide I watched in history class. In seventh grade, it didn’t mean much. I was far more worried on going bowling that night. Civil rights was part of a project I had been assigned. In ninth grade, it didn’t mean much. I was more concerned on passing my driver’s test. Civil rights is no longer just a term from history class, a page on a slideshow or part of a project. In eleventh grade, racism broke my heart. I was devastated when my boyfriend broke up with me because his mom did not approve. Not because of how I dressed, or how I looked, not because of what I did but because of the color of my skin. The civil rights movement that started in the sixties made all equal before the law. The civil rights movement of this century has not yet taken place. We are now plagued with subtle prejudice, aversive racism and racial ambivalence. The civil rights of the twenty first century is yet to be valiantly fought.