Forever and Always
Some people believe in miracles. Other people argue that fate is what makes day
turn into night and the waves rise high and low crashing over a ship at sea or carrying it to the shore safely. A person of faith will say that ones’ life is controlled by a higher power greater than fate itself. Shannon has heard every excuse, rhyme or reason as to what exactly wills each life changing event. She occasionally agrees, yet never disagrees for reasons that would just be impolite. It is what only she knows in her heart, and in a place that even her heart cannot reach, that wills her to live through each day and keeps her anticipating the comfort of her empty bed at night. It is here, in the glow from a single lit candle holding the scent of the ocean breeze, that Shannon separates herself from the world around her and is brought into the only place she longs to be.
To begin the evening ritual, Shannon sits at her vanity, combing each section of her long blonde locks and staring into her reflection. She reminds herself of how her eyes used to sparkle. She attempts to recreate the shimmer in her hazel eyes by recalling a humorous event, or practicing her most infectious grin. Suprised that this doesn’t work (although it has never worked before) she eagerly reaches under her mattress for the photograph that will begin the second step of what will soon ease her into a soundslumber.
Shannon immediately finds the grin that she has been searching for. First, on the glossy print that she holds in her hand, and soon after, appearing on her own rose colored lips. One would think that night after night of seeing the same picture would make it turn into only that, a picture. Every time Shannon gazes into this square paper world of hers she is drawn into it as if it were happening all over again.
She falls into the time the picture was taken. It was a beautiful summer day, and the sky was painted blue with traces of clouds only to remind the town that it was not, in fact, a canvas, but a true day. The birds flew blissfully, calling to each other. The ocean breeze was just enough to send the smell of the fish from the dock towards the inner part of town. The town itself was quiet. Families gathered today in their homes to share the day with each other. Many of the fishermen had the day off, and although the town should be bust...
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...eping over her
face, grazing her lips with his smooth fingertips and moving them from there to the tip of her ear where he brings his lips gently to whisper. The feeling of his breath on her is warm and makes Shannon’s body tingle as she begins to believe that he really is in the room with her. She smells the distinct flavor of his cologne in the air and on her pillow and longs for him to wrap her in his arms.
“Jay, I need you here with me.” she proclaims as if he can hear her.
“I’m here. Forever and always.” He speaks and she is calmed by his tender
voice.
Shannon feels the embrace of his arms around her, and the whispered phrase that
accompanies every nightly dream she encounters, declaring his love for her. Finally ready to be disappointed by reality, she opens her eyes only to find that he is real. As she looks at him, he slides the gold sparkling ring onto her finger and their lips find each other. The remainder of the night had come to life with passion. At dawn, when she finally fell asleep with his arms around her, she felt the grin on her face form and the comfort in her heart, knowing that he meant what he said. He would never leave again.
The United States was divided in two as a war, known as the civil war, erupted between the North and the South (the Union vs the Confederates). A major issue that instigated the war was the issue on slavery and the expansion of it to more states. An act known as the Civil Rights Act of 1866 was made to give rights to slaves that were freed during the civil war and to ultimately help abolish slavery all together after the end of the war. There were many who opposed the granting of rights to blacks and thus paving the way for the creation of what were known as Jim Crow Laws. These laws were put in place to separate blacks from whites and to strip blacks from their rights. The Jim Crow laws are examples of how the American mind set was to effectively separate the two races as an effort to suppress African Americans from gaining complete freedom and equality and, ultimately, portrayed blacks as the inferior race.
Jim Crow laws affected the United States by creating a society where white individuals and than those of color were kept separate. As America hit a turning point in history and the Civil War was fought, slavery was abolished and white supremacists created Jim Crow laws in an attempt to keep African Americans as close as possible to their previous status as slaves. These laws aimed to control every aspect of life and to create a separated society dominated by whites. America was “Jim Crowed” for almost a full century and the laws weren’t successfully opposed until 1954 during the Brown v. Board of Education case, and even then, it took several years for society to accept integration.
“Jim Crow Laws were statutes and ordinances established between 1874 and 1975 to separate the white and black races in the American South. In theory, it was to create "separate but equal" treatment, but in practice Jim Crow Laws condemned black citizens to inferior treatment and facilities.” The Jim Crows Laws created tensions and disrespect towards blacks from whites. These laws separated blacks and whites from each other and shows how race determines how an individual is treated. The Jim Crow laws are laws that are targeted towards black people. These laws determine how an individual is treated by limiting their education, having specific places where blacks and whites could or could not go, and the punishments for the “crime” committed.
After the end of slavery African Americans were told they were equal, but the Jim Crow laws kept them separate from white people. “Jim Crow system was undergirded by beliefs or rationalizations: whites were superior to blacks in all important ways…”("What Was Jim Crow?"). Jim Crow laws determined how an individual was treated in the areas of social interactions, education and health care.
Annenberg Foundation. (2014). Separate is not equal: Enforcing the codes of the Jim Crow south. Retrieved from http://www.learner.org/amerpass/unit13/context_activ-2.html
"White Only: Jim Crow in America - Separate Is Not Equal." Jim Crow in America. National Museum
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