Essays

Making A Difference

As I sat in the cold, scratched brown desk in the back of the classroom, I found myself zoning in and out of the discussion at hand. History was by far my least favorite class, with old Mr. Horton and his drawl voice lulling me to sleep every day. Why was history even necessary to learn about? It seemed so pointless to learn about things that were over and done with. But, of course, it is completely necessary according to the education system.

My friend, Tina, who happened to be sitting beside me slyly passed me a note right before I almost fell asleep. As I opened it, she stared at me, waiting. The note read, Have you heard the news? I looked back at Tina, clearly confused. She took the note back, scribbled something else, and then handed it to me again. You'll know after school in student council.

I nodded, then continued on the train to sleepyville.

The rest of the day, I kept wondering about Tina's note. What did it mean? What is the news? I was nervous and jittery until the final bell rang, and I hurried to Mrs. Francine's room for the Student Council meeting. It seemed that everyone but me knew the news, but that wasn't a surprise since I was definitely much more reserved than anyone else here.

Mrs. Francine started our meeting with a speech that told me all I needed to know. "Now, ev'ryone, there has been a turn for the better in our society on this very day. As most of you already know, many of us African Americans have been oppressed for what seemed to be an unending amount of time. We began as property to the white man, now we stand "separate but equal" as they like to say. Well, a great step forward has been taken, as it seems that the Brown v. the Board of Education case has been won. No longer will students be separated based on the color of their skin in America."

I looked at Tina, whose smile was bright and big. The room seemed as light as air. There's no way this could be happening! A small chatter spread throughout the room of about 15 people. It slowly grew into a steady, excited roar.

Mrs. Francine began tapping her pencil on her desk loudly, so as to get everyone's attention. "This being said, there are many who are upset with this. They believe we are some lower species just because of our skin color. Your job, as the youth today, is to change the world as best as you can. So, I want you all to find a way to counteract these angry whines of the rich white folk. Your ideas must be given to me in written form by the end of the week. Good Luck!"

We were dismissed after that, to go gather our own ideas. Tina and I walked out of the school together, chattering about different ideas we had.

"What if we held a banquet for everyone in town?"

"Or we could have a bake sale."

"What about a fair?"

"A festival maybe?"

"Even something small like becoming friends with the girl across the street would make some sort of difference."

The problem with our student assignment seemed to be that we had no idea what Mrs. Francine actually wanted. It could be something small or something huge, and we weren't quite sure what to do.

The next day, as I was walking to school, I saw the men with the signs. They stood at the doors to the school, yelling obscene things that I would definitely get smacked for saying. As soon as they saw me, they began yelling at me. Many even spit towards the ground as I walked by. I tried to ignore them as best as I could, but I soon became overwhelmed. I ran, going towards the back of the school where Ms. Francine's door was located. I began frantically knocking, and she soon pulled the door open, hinges squeaking.

"Alice, get inside quickly!" She whispered, motioning for me to enter the small classroom. As soon as I was inside, the tears started flowing from my eyes automatically. Ms. Francine tried to comfort me.

"It's a darn cold world we live in, honey. People like the men outside are the reason we are so vehemently hated. There's too much hatred here, and that's why I'm relying on the next generation to get it right. You are the future, darling. You can change the world."

Then, Ms. Francine wiped my eyes, and silently led me to one of the desks. I looked down towards my backpack. Suddenly, an idea popped into my head.

"Ms. Francine, you know how you were talking about making a change for the better in Student Council?"

She looked at me, a gleam in her eye, and I knew we had the exact same idea.

Later that day, the few students who actually stayed at school, Tina and I included, met in Ms. Francine's room and our plan was put into action. Paper flew all over the room, glue was all over our fingers and several papercuts were bandaged during this time. Afterwards, I held in my hands dozens of paper flowers.

As I walked around the back of the school towards the front, I was immensely nervous. Tina walked beside me, carrying the flowers of different shades of red, blue and pink. Our heartbeats soon melded into an insanely fast drumbeat of terror. Neither of us knew what would happen next. Soon, the men with the signs were in our line of sight.

I breathed, then slowly took the flowers from Tina. The first man began cursing at me while the others either spat or yelled with him. I handed him a flower, silently. His eyes first showed confusion, then he walked towards me, a slight anger coming across his face.

"What is this? Some sort of voodoo spell? Some sort of trick? What are you planning?" Some of his spit landed on my face as he spoke, but I kept a calm, cool expression.

I stayed silent, but nodded towards the flower in his hands. Then, I began giving flowers to all of the men. Slowly, the shouting dissipated and I stared at the many dumbfounded men in front of me. Then, I walked away, leaving them in the power of my absence.

As I rounded the corner to the other side of the school, Tina, Ms. Francine and the other students were standing there, silent. I looked to Ms. Francine, who had a small smile on her face, for some clue of what had just happened, but she uttered only one sentence.

"You've just changed a little piece of the world."