Living in a town of just over 2500 people, Cross City Florida is considered a small town. It has become a clich� that all small towns are racist. From the beginning this town has lived up to the clich�. Living here for 18 of 24 years of my life, I believe that while times have changed many things there are still too much racism in this community. As told from an "Old Timer" around here named Ed. Back in the day African Americans were treated like they were everywhere else around the United States, like slaves. After slavery was abolished, racism still remained and still goes on today. Ed told me that while in this area there was a KKK, it was not for the reasons that some believe. The KKK was started to help women who were being beat by their husbands. As the years past the new generations began to use this KKK for racial reasons, this group would go around and terrorize the black community. While today this clan is not mentioned, they are still present in this small town.
In this small town if you are not African American you are Caucasian. There is very little diversity. This is why it seems that this little town never changes. While everyone seems to live all over the place, we still have the stereotypical ghetto and white neighborhoods. Whether you are black or white you know exactly what neighbor hoods you can roam in and which one's you do not go near. Being a white female I do go in the "ghetto" area to see friends, but some people look down on me and I stick out like a sore thumb. While the messages are not always direct or sent in a rude way, as long as you get the message your fine. This applies to both black and white neighborhoods. There is even a small town outside of Cross City that African American's will not go due to such high discrimination. While it would be nice to have more diversity in this town, just to meet new people and cultures it does not happen.
In our government and politics in the Dixie county, there is hidden racism. While there...