College Case

It became quite clear to me on 125th street, a world so different from my own. I made the jump from the crowded subway car to the cracking concrete of the subway station. When we finally emerged into the light from the darkness of the underground, I skipped up the stairs and attempted to grab the hand of my best friend. I reached back and felt the light touch of his fingertips, but I could not seem to tighten my grasp.

"Zackary?" I asked, after my instinct kicked in to tell me something was wrong.

"Not here," he replied, "not now."

Before I got the chance to become angry at him for rejecting my playful affection, it all started to piece together. Every single pair of eyes in the vicinity seemed to stare for just a second longer than usual. As it if were a movie, people turned to whisper as we passed.

I turned to look for the security of Zackary, but I could not even find his eyes. Whether he felt responsible for the situation at hand, or he was just trying to protect me-that I will never know. What did become clear on that sunny Saturday afternoon in Harlem, New York though, was that the racial divide between blacks and whites in America is still a prominent issue, something I had never noticed before. Coming from a predominantly white town, it was a shock.

I felt naked that day walking down Malcolm X Boulevard as a white girl accompanied by a black male, a feeling I am sure is familiar with many other people. I could feel every ounce of confidence in myself ooze out like the last bits of toothpaste in the tube. But I have not lost faith in humanity; it is not the fault of the people who stared. I myself struggle sometimes to keep an open mind on equality. But the more often I am faced with small moments of racism and prejudice that I had never noticed before, the more I am inclined to stop it.

That small moment in time where I could not hold the hand of my best friend in public was a wake-up call to a pressing issue in society, but it was also a call to me. I decided right then and there that I would do no less than I possibly could to contribute to a solution to the barrier among races in the world.

Though I may be just one person, I hope to utilize the resources and other minds at college to help turn the potential of the American public into progress. I know that this country will see a day of whole hearted equality, and I hope to be one of the people who get it there.

Now when I walk down the streets with Zackary or anybody else with a different color skin, I make a point to show the world, and I hope that they have noticed.