The lecture on Tuesday opened my eyes to the horrific treatment that human beings received if they weren’t white men. Although we are now in modern times there is still disadvantages that exist between different races and different sexes in many aspects.

We were told the story of young Emmett Till’s death. He was brutally beaten and murdered by two white men. His mother made sure Emmett had an open casket so that people could see what these men had done to him and over 1000 people came to see his casket. However, there was no justice as these murderers stood in front of an all white, male jury who, after just 67 minutes, decided that they would be allowed to walk free. It astounded me that the colour of Emmett’s skin determined whether these monsters were classed as murders or not. This horrific event was one that triggered the movement for equality amongst races.

The Jim Crow laws are another shocking part of our history. These were signs that would specify ‘white only’ or ‘black only’ in shops, restaurants, cinemas and more. One sign that really caught my eye was a sign that read “no dogs, Negros or Mexicans”, this compared anyone who wasn’t white to the same level in society as a dog. This should never have been acceptable to treat other human beings this way, but unfortunately for many centuries this was seen as ‘normal’. This extent of inequality amongst races was fought against by activists such as Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King and many other brave people who took steps towards equality. It showed me how one small act of bravery can contribute majorly towards a movement that you believe in and it can inspire others to do so too.

Although the amount of equality between the races has decreased significantly, white people are still somewhat privileged in society. There is a lot of racial abuse and discrimination which exists today. It can be seen occurring during many sports and even during politics, a lot of these people (especially sports professionals) can be seen as role models for many people which sets a horrible example and may encourage their fans to use racist comments.

A story which shows that white people continue to be the privileged race is one of a woman who was caught drink driving. After she was caught she told the police that she was a “clean, white girl” which she thought may get her out of being charged. This woman should never have assumed that she could break the law and put other people in danger just because she is white. It is incidents such as this which remind me that the inequality still exists even after all the injustice that people have received.

Another inequality that has effected our society is the one that has existed between the sexes. For many centuries, throughout every country in the world women have always been though of as less than men. But why? There have always been stereotypes that women are weak and fragile and men must be strong and insensitive. This inequality is introduced in very early years for every child and can affect their motivation, self esteem and create barriers for women especially throughout their careers and their life. These gender specific behaviours are shown to us through books, movies and TV shows. This is how children pick up on these behaviours, they are told that if they act any way other than what they are shown then they aren’t feminine or masculine enough for society.

We were shown adverts from the 20th century which advertise women as being “servants” to men and portray woman as being unintelligent. Demonstrating how a the “ideal” women should act or look. As well as this, there were photos of women have their bathing suits measured to see if they were the appropriate length. This seems completely mad to me, however this inequality still exists now. In 2016, a women was asked by police to remove her birkini on a beach in France. The fact that women are still being told what they can and cannot wear portrays a sense of men still being dominating.

The fear of not being what society expects becomes in-bedded in people. Doing something “like a girl” has always been something that people take offence to. It enhances the idea that girls are less than boys. When we were shown the Always advert we seen older boys and girls doing things “like a girl” such as running, throwing or fighting, all of which they performed in a pathetic and weak way. However when they asked young girls to perform the same actions “like a girl” they ran fast, threw strong and fought hard. This showed us that it is through childhood that children absorb these views and thoughts that boys and girls are so different. We have the power to change this.