Out of all months in the year, I knew that February was Black History Months. In class, the students would learn about African-American and minority men and women that had a great effect on the way us minorities and people of color live today. At times I would ask myself, why  it felt as if everything I learned every February of my school career was redundant. I then learned how people of color were brought to this world and how they fought to get what they have today. On the first day of Freshman Inquiry Seminar class, Ms. K passed out two pieces of media and asked us how we felt about it.

These pictures sparked an interest that has always shown me that us minorities and people of color are prosperous individuals. I believed Blacks and their accomplishments would always be respected, but then I have seen how some people society have been indifferent towards the history of these brave people. The cartoon, “The Problem We All Live In” by Norman Rockwell, serves to inform us, the reader, of a social issues that once occurred and a present issue that society now lives in today. One is of Ruby Bridges, a Black girl, and the other is of Betsy DeVos, a White woman. The picture of Ruby Bridges occurred during the early 1900s here in the United States in Louisiana. Betsy DeVos cartoon picture occured in the 2000s in the United States.

The genre of these two pictures are non-fiction. They are both historical pictures. I am not a big fan of history, and I wouldn’t always find it interesting. However, this is a historical picture that involves my own people, which are minorities. Therefore, this topic in class caught my attention. Especially since I am in a school where there are white people who might even go against the beliefs of us minorities, I saw this is a chance for me to have a critical stance on my opinion of what I believe is right. I feel like my opinion on this topic is my voice, and my voice must be heard.

A personal experience that I have all the time is at work. My manager is half hispanic and white, but skews more towards his white side. People at work even call him “MASTAA.” They may say it as a joke, but it goes to show the power that they give him although we are all equal. Once, a co-manager told me to go to school and get an education so that I am not under “White Man’s Rule.” I have resonated with this ever since because it I want to be able to make a difference. I want to be able to say that I did all my hard work on my own to get to the top and not have anyone controlling me in my career. This is what the pictures bring to my memory. They show me that in order to not be under the rule of white man, we must fight for what we believe in.

The first connection that can be made between these two pictures is that they are both females, fighting for what they believe was right. I had believed that the teacher would just ask us to explain the two womens’ goals and our opinions on them. However, after scrutinizing the two cartoons, I saw there was a deeper message, and one that I did not agree with that much. We analyzed that the message of the political cartoons was to show that the struggle of these two women were the same. The first thing I said to myself was “How feeble has mankind become?”  To say that the struggles of Betsy DeVos wanting to reshape the education laws was the same as the struggle of Ruby Bridges fighting for free education for minorities is incorrect. At that moment, I realized that society has now painted a picture where they are beginning to forget the real importance of the actions of Ruby Bridges. She fought for us minorities to have an education who once had no form of becoming successful. Now people in the society want to say that betsy DeVos struggle of removing some educational laws and adding more is the same when it candidly is not.

It understandable that both Ruby Bridges and Betsy DeVos are women, which makes their voice harder to be heard since women are not given the same respect that they deserve. However, a Black girl fighting for freedom and the ability to have an education that minorities are entitled to will never be the same as a White wealthy women who desires to change the foundations of the system after many people fought to get to where it is today. I have been able to critically analyze how society has wanted to synthesize two different perspectives and unite them as one. It therefore gives me a demeanor of responsibility for various reasons. I feel as if us minorities must work very hard in order to gain what is ours, our freedom, our rights, and our voice.

It is clear to state that the significance of viewing these images is to become socially aware of what is going on in our society. These issues regarding the education need to be resolved because is can lead to a greater issue like the people going against the government. It has been seen before that numerous people have stood in front of the White House to protest. My opinion on education and segregation have not changed nor will they. All people deserve and education and segregation is an absurd practice.