by Wally Steele

Created on: April 29, 2009

I have lived long enough to have seen the harsh segregation people faced in Mississippi during the last of the 1950's and early 1960's. My father was in the military and stationed in a small town there and I came face to face with being isolated for just not having the right accent. I can remember all the signs which distinguished who could use this bathroom or drink from that fountain. Yes, I can remember what it was like, but today I no longer see those obvious signs. I no longer live in Mississippi but now in the high plains state of South Dakota. Does segregation still exist? Yes it does!

I had the privilege of raising four foster children, all from a minority race. My wife and I are Caucasian but once again I felt the pain of isolation because of our children's differences. These children had to overcome obstacles that my biological boys never had to face. They were called derogatory names, treated differently, although they were very bright the education system did not expect them to excel. If anything did happen they were the first to get the blame, until we could prove without a doubt that they were innocent. They faced the almost secretive exclusion from birthday parties and always had to be careful who to date or who to be seen with.

I can remember talking to a principal one day and he said to me, "You are not going to pull the race card are you?" My foster son had just been called by the "N word" and the principal was just trying to convince me that this situation where kids were just being kids. I loved these children as my own and took these things very seriously as any parent would. I did have one advantage other parents of minority children did not I was white. You would never believe how many times we have shocked administrators and parents when two white parents would show up for a meeting to fight for our kids. I am sure because of this simple fact they were treated more carefully that other kids in the same situation.

Yes, even though we now have a black president, segregation exists. I do not believe that any race is specifically identified as a target but I am sure any miniority person comes face to face with it. In South Dakota the Native American population is often a target of comments or direct segregation. I spent the last number of years working in the Juvenile Corrections field and have often been shocked by comments made by co-workers. Yes, segregation exists.

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