| 'Opening Doors' essay winners Note: KeiAra Sanders is an eighth grader at Westlawn Middle School.
When you think about where you are today, do you ever take time out to wonder how you got there? It was people like Vivian Malone and James Hood who have "opened doors" for you and me. It is because of their courage and determination that we have so many opportunities for African-Americans in particular. I guess one can say their courage and determination were like the jaws of life that forced opened the doors of integration, letting African-Americans take advantage of learning opportunities that everyone should have had all along. Looking back that long ago, it may seem easy now what Malone and Hood did, but it was not. They faced many racial barriers and trials and tribulations trying to enroll in classes at the University of Alabama. Previously, a determined lady named Autherine Lucy attempted the same thing shortly after the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycotts. She failed, however, because white violence forced her to leave the university over fear for her safety. She stayed at the university only three days. About eight years later, June 11, 1963, Vivian Malone successfully integrated the university with the help of Federal Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach, who was at the university to ensure her safety and to make sure she gained entrance. She did not even let George Wallace and his "Stand in the Schoolhouse Door" stop her, and she graduated in 1965 from the university. Malone ended up working for the federal government as the director of civil rights and urban affairs and for the Environmental Protection Agency. Malone eventually returned to the university to receive an award from George C. Wallace called the Lurleen B. Wallace Award of Courage. This meeting was one of peace not conflict between the two. There was also James Hood who integrated the University of Alabama. Hood left under doctor's orders to "avoid complete mental and physical breakdown" because of all the violence and harassment. He continued his schooling in Detroit. The year 1995 brought Hood back to Alabama, and in 1997, he received a doctorate. Besides Malone and Hood, there is also someone else who has helped provide me opportunities and who has helped me all of my fourteen years. My best friend Irene, my mom. As a forgiving person, she has always been there with her arms open when I do something wrong. When I say, "I can't," she is there with a great big "CAN" encouraging me to try and do my best. My mother has sacrificed many things for my education. For example, she bought me two things I can remember at times when she really could not afford them: a set of books and a computer. People sacrificing things for others gives them a good feeling inside. Malone, Hood and Lucy sacrificed part of themselves to break the "racial barrier" for us and so their children could grow and prosper and have a good education, which seems to be taken for granted by some in our race. Maybe one day we will learn and see why Malone, Hood and Lucy did what they did, one day. |
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