This Land is For You and Me
Abby Christensen

This Land is your land; this land is my land, from California, to the New York Island, from the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters, this land was made for you and me. This land was made for you and me - for everyone, blacks, whites, women, men, elderly, adults, children, handicapped - everyone. In a community without prejudice, Meacham Park and Kirkwood wouldn’t be separated (more African Americans would live in Kirkwood, and more white people would live in Meacham Park) and there’d be more government leaders from different cultures of race and religion and most importantly, everyone would be treated equally and respectfully.

In the Federal government, the first African American president was just elected, but in our community we have one black city council member. In an anti- prejudice community there would be more black council members and more council members of other cultural races. There would also be more women. And there would be more jobs in the city council that those with mental challenges could run for so they could be a bigger part of the work of the community too. In an anti- prejudice community, people who are mentally challenged would have special jobs in the city council, and more women and more cultural diverse people would be in the city council.

Most of the African American kids in my grade are either from Meacham Park or they live in the city. There is one kid in my grade from Meacham Park that is white. All of my friends that are white live somewhere else besides Meacham Park. In a community without prejudice, more African- Americans would live in Kirkwood and more white kids and other kids of different cultural racial groups would live in Meacham Park - if I was to go from from door to door, there would be white people, black people, and many more people of different races. In an anti–prejudice community, Meacham Park and Kirkwood would be more like one big multi-cultural community.

In 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech. America has come a long way since then - from getting laws passed, to the election of Barack Obama for president - but we aren’t finished yet. We aren’t living in an anti – prejudiced community yet, but we will be someday. Someday soon, if everyone keeps fighting for what’s right, everyone will be treated equally and Dr. King’s dream will have been completed. Everyone will be able to treat each other with respect and enjoy this wonderful land, this land, that will truly be for you and me.

1 Title: This Land is Your Land Author: Woody Guthrie, Year Copyrighted: 1956