Teaching Tolerance: “A Tale of Two Cities”

The essay "A Tale of Two Cities" from Teaching Tolerance examines segregation in the United States throughout the early 1930s and 1940s. It describes how Chicanos were discriminated against based on their color and forced to attend separate schools from whites, where they were only granted basic education privileges. It also mentions an incident in which outraged parents banded together to file a lawsuit against the infringement of rights, claiming that even though some of the learners were citizens by birth, they were still denied the right to equal opportunities despite their parents' contributions to the development of California's economy. The issues highlighted in the article represent some of the significant challenges that have been described in the history of American civilization. The most interesting reality is that the whites were unappreciative of the efforts that the Chicago parents were putting and only rewarding a few of them in a better way. For example, Gonzalo is described to have been a champion orange picker, and the reward he got was a bigger paycheck than the others. Furthermore, the Mendezes were actively involved in a petition and instead of the school administrators rewarding the whole community, they offered a chance to admit only their children. Such reports by the whites showed that they could even exercise more discrimination because apart from alienating the whole Mexican community from themselves, they were taking it further and separating the few hardworking and determined Chicanos.

Several insights can also be drawn from the plot to describe the struggles that the minority populations face. It is inferred that the challenges of police brutality and criminalization that are common today are directly linked to the foundation of segregation that was established in the earlier centuries following American civilization. It is quite a mind-boggling issue because one wonders why the US does not learn from the mistakes it has committed in the past and promoted better living standards for all citizens. The court rulings that are described in the article played a crucial role in enabling the whites to realize their mistake, but in the end, nothing much was done to salvage the situation and reinstate the American rights for its citizens. It is likely that the hate that America faces from the outside world is directly linked to the foundation of injustices that were done to the minority groups' ancestors including the African American, Indians and presently, the growing threat of terrorism from the Muslim nations.

In summary, the article is informative and awakens the reader to the reality that for centuries, the US is still fighting for the rights of its citizens and battling court ruling on issues related to marginalization. It is even worrying that the age of globalization has not changed much since even though it is undisputed that the situation now is better than it was before. Overall, the subject of the two cities outlines a critical issue that will remain significant for a few more decades to come.

Works Cited

Teaching Tolerance. “A Tale of Two Schools.” Social Justice Domain (2018): n. pag. Web.