Light at the End of the Tunnel by Kate

Light at the End of the Tunnel by Kate - October 2017 Scholarship Essay

Despite the cloudless sky and the warm breeze combing the green fields of grass that cover the southern United States, life is anything but peaceful. Whites Only and Coloreds Only signs decorate the doors of all public places, including restrooms and water fountains. Violence and blood erupt on the corners of every street. Everywhere you step, tensions hang high between whites and African Americans. This could be the sorry scene of the twenty-first century that corrupted the south if Abraham Lincoln was not president. Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, is best known for the creation of the Emancipation Proclamation. The 1863 document freed the slaves from their masters and allowed African Americans a chance at life.
All it takes is one person to change the world. It does not have to be as big as changing the whole world. It could be as simple as changing somebody’s world. Lincoln saved the lives of African Americans living in the 1860’s and for future generations. Without Lincoln being president or without the Emancipation Proclamation, who knows how long African Americans would be forced to live like prisoners.
I am a Caucasian female who has lived in the United States my whole life. It makes me sick to think about the way my people treated African Americans all because of their skin color. Skin color is what people see on the outside. It has no effect on people’s personality on the inside nor does it give anybody a right to treat people poorly. I would like to have a dinner with Abraham Lincoln and thank him personally for his efforts in making the lives of those in need better. If I was a slave, I would want somebody to take the higher road and help me out as a human being. Devastation can only destroy a country for so long before help is found. Lincoln was the light at the end of a very dark tunnel. He made the lives for his citizens better and that is what I true leader does.