Excerpts From a Diary

Dear Diary July 19, 1860
I dunno much bout writin in a diary, just that u say what is happenin in your life lately. At least that is what my 'ol master told me when he gave this book to me. See, usually slaves do not know how to write but Master Jones felt that we are people to and deserve the right to express our feelings... All of us slaves work so hard in the fields... The pain I feel from the scars and lyin on the floor to sleep...

Dear Diary April 23, 1918
Today while gardening I found this diary. It is falling apart, so I decided to tape it back together. I do not know what to do with it but write in it. I tried to understand the writing, but what I got from the one entry was that one slave woman was hiding a diary that she got form her old master... I am a housewife living at the beginning of the 20th Century. I feel no one shows any respect towards me... I do not understand how it can be that I do a lot more than my husband and am treated like an animal... have to watch what I say, only speak when spoken to and not have the right to vote...

Dear Diary December 18, 1940
I am a maid in a huge house in New York... I found this journal in the drawer... I have read the entries and I am amazed by the two different women's lives... I have recently moved from Nazi Germany... I work long hours but am provided with shelter and food... I feel safe here. Why must I always feel I'm different and feel like I should be lucky to be alive? It's not right…..

Dear Diary October 2, 2002
I am so amazed by this diary and I would sell it to a museum. But first I feel it is my duty to pass on the "tradition" of sharing your problems and thoughts... I am Muslim-American girl... I have always been looked upon as someone not as good as others in my school. I am just as American as everyone else. Though I do wear the head scarf that religious Muslim girls must wear... I am always left out and called names. Ever since September 11, 2001... I have been considered and enemy despite the fact that I lost and Uncle that happened to be very close that day...

Abigail Hennelly, Grand Prize Winner 2004

An Everlasting Vow

What would the world be like if we were all the same, everyone had the same name, played the same games, no women painted black, no man painted with the color white, everyone with the complexion of gray?
The answer: very boring.
God didn't make us different because He didn't have anything better to do.
He wanted you to learn from me and me to learn from you.
It's time to accept that we'll never be the same.
It's time for us to treat everyone with love and stop all the hurt and pain.
PREJUDICE STOPS HERE!

Krystin T. Sullivan, Grand Prize Winner 2002

Prejudice in the National Football League

I love sports but definitely not prejudice and injustice. Ever since Jackie Robinson broke into the big leagues in 1947, many people just took for granted that athletes in our country are completely diverse. In some cases they are, but in others, people are still reluctant to hire Blacks or Hispanics.

Last year here were only two African-American head coaches in the NFL: Dennis Green and Tony Dungy. That's a dismal 7% of the league. Especially when about half of the league is made up of Black players. However, both coaches were fired last month, even though they transformed their respective franchises into winning teams. This year they both had sub-par seasons and their organizations "jumped the gun" and fired them. Coincidence or prejudice?

Also last year, the Baltimore Ravens were the Super Bowl Champions. This is mainly because they had an unbeatable defense that was almost impossible to penetrate. The genius behind the defense's schemes was the Raven's brilliant defensive coordinator Marvin Lewis, an African-American. He played one of the most important roles in their organization's success. So, when head coaching spots opened up the following year he was an obvious choice, right? Well, that's what I thought, but he wasn't even interviewed for a job. Coincidence or prejudice?

Whether or not NFL owners are prejudiced against Black head coaches or not, I do not know. However, I was brought up knowing how wrong prejudice and injustice are. One man taking away another man's rights because of race, religion or anything else is down-right intolerable. So that's the case in the NFL, they've lost a true fan on me right off the bat. It's like saying minorities are good enough athletes to play in our league, but not smart enough to coach in it and that's wrong.

Some of the best minds in sports are minorities (Mohammed Ali and Michael Jordan). Overall, we need to attempt to fix prejudice in our world today and a good way to start would be to hire some minorities as head coaches.

John P. McCabe, Grand Prize Winner 2002