I live in a predominantly black town and all the schools that I attended were majority black. For a long time, I never felt singled out from everyone else, my skin color did not stand out from the rest. That was the case until I was placed into advanced classes in 7th grade. It was a big switch for me because I was no longer surrounded by people the same color as me. Despite the school being composed of mostly black students, I was in a class with mostly white students. There were about four kids in a class of 25 that were black. This made me uncomfortable because it was the first time I felt singled out from everyone else.

This separation continued throughout high school as I began taking AP and honor classes. These classes had a sparse amount of black kids. However, if you went to a regular class you would see plenty kids of color. I do not think that the white kids in my school were smarter than the black ones, I just think they were given better opportunities.

There was a poor side and rich side in my community, and you can guess were each race lived. The black people were subject to small run-down homes in neighborhoods full of gangs and violence. While the white people lived in nice houses with yards in a suburb neighborhood. With black kids constantly struggling to get through life, school was their last concern. You could tell that they were only going because they had too. They kept choosing classes that did not challenge them because they just wanted to finish. When it came time to start looking into colleges a lot of the kids of color did not even consider it.

Now after graduating high school, I can hardly recognize half of the students I went to school with. A lot of them decided not to go to college and instead make a living through part time jobs and drug dealing. This is something that I see in a lot of black communities, with people falling into the same cycle every year. They have come to accept that their life is defined by struggling. They are never pushed to try hard, and do not think that they are capable. A lot of black people have accepted the circumstances given to them, rather than fighting for better. I do not blame them for thinking that way, when society is constantly pushing them down. Telling them that this is their stereotype and they should stick with it, instead of telling them that they are worth more than what they are given. It is hard to do better when no one is helping you, and no one thinks you can better yourself. Black communities are neglected and no one should have to live like that, but not enough people care enough to change it.