Wouldn't it be nice if discrimination was as blatantly obvious now as it was when the Jim Crow laws were in effect? It would be so much easier to promote equality if there was still a tangible enemy of it. How can you fight something that some people (idiots) don't even believe exists anymore. "Oh no," they say, "African Americans just have twice the poverty rate as Caucasians because they don't try as hard."
The Jim Crow laws were designed to try and hide away black citizens like unwanted pimples. Now that those laws aren't in effect the citizens are visible, but their problems seem to have disappeared. Of course the problems still exist; they just aren't flashy enough to attract help. Even a citizen who prides himself on his morals has no qualms about not helping other races. The trouble now is that inequality can be overlooked too easily.
While throwing Jimmy out the door was tough, now we have to get all of that soot that fell off him out of our house. The trouble is that, by now, the soot is hidden deep in crevasses in the floorboards. While it might be easy to ignore the remnants of racism, the problem still exists. If you were to really try, you could still pick up that lingering sooty scent.
It might be hard to acknowledge, but repealing the Jim Crow laws was the easy compared to what must happen next. What we need to change now is our basic attitude toward different people. For some reason, a sense of superiority has become part of human nature. It is only when we get rid of this sad belief that discrimination can really end.
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