It's funny to look at things the way they are now, compared to the way they were fifty years ago. Today we are allowed to be friends, family and co-workers no matter our skin color or nationality. You won’t know it by looking but this isn’t the way things have always been. There is a whole history that we have missed that out parents or grandparents know about; and all they can do is tell us stories we will never know what it was like, however we can still see the changes. First and foremost “colored and whites” were segregated. The term isn’t common anymore but at that time it was the social norm. Schools were separated between white people and black kids. They couldn’t go to school together and be friends, hangout, or be seen with each other. Even things as basic as water fountains were separated. The “Whites Only” fountain could be seen from far because of the sign that was above it. Or maybe it was because it looked new and shiny and was cooled by a system that made the water cold. The one for the “Colored People” was old and worn down not maintained and was whatever temperature the weather was. In Greensboro, North Carolina, there is a famous restaurant that the whole of America knows about. It isn’t for its amazing chicken or its apple pie. No, it's known for being the place where four students sat inside the front of the restaurant. This seems like no big deal. However, Blacks were not allowed to eat inside the restaurant. They would place their order inside then go out to the back door and get their food. Now the big thing here isn’t that the kids went inside, it’s that everyone was threatening them and cursing at them even hitting and spitting at them. The teens did not act violently they just refused to move and no matter what happened they stayed seated until the police arrived. Today in the year 2014, we can say that we as students are not separated by color. We can be friends with whomever we choose. Education for any race will be the same and we are taught in the same classroom by the same teacher at the same time - we even have the same books. And as far as water fountains go they are all up kept, and the signs are no longer a thing of conversation and they have started building animal foundations at the bottom of the human ones. So doesn’t matter if you’re white or black or a dog - you can get a drink of water without getting arrested. Secondly, the laws that govern everyone has changed from the 1960s until now. We are each held accountable by the law but now there is no difference for what is expected of black or white men and women. It is also important that everyone over the age eighteen can vote as long as you are registered. This may seem like no big deal seeing as we have an African American president in office currently but at one time that was hard to imagine and was probably a joke to most people. There were laws that are now abolished but were in effect nonetheless, such as the Jim Crow laws. Even though they are in different time periods it needs to be discussed because it was a contributing factor to the Civil Rights Movement. “A black man could not be on the side walk at the same time as a white man or women was.” That was considered an offense and the police would get involved. “A black man is to never look a white woman in the face, let alone talk to her." That was a major offense and a prison sentence was necessary, if you survived. It also brings in the one tenth law which states that if a baby is a product of interracial relations the baby is titled black and must abide by those rules. Contrary to popular belief not all people followed his law. If the father of the child was white and was kind-hearted enough and saw that his child needed to be treated equally he would take the child and raise it, often saying the baby is a bastard from a on