Onion

Lassiter High School is a place of secrets. Weather somethings or unknown or just rumor the student seek and ponder the truth. People will tell freshman or just new comers about the concert hall being haunted or the under water basket weaving ASE. Through process of elimination students can usually narrow the list down by knocking out obvious lies, but the one real question they ask themselves is: is there a swimming pool on top of the science building?

  

       The answer is yes, well, kind of. The administration extracted the pool's water due to celling problem in the Georgia flood a couple of years back. The pool remained in an empty state for about four years, but due to a decision made by Lassiter's staff it seemed that bringing the pool back by refilling it was the best option. 

         The thought in most people's heads when they hear about the pool on the science building for the first time is probably like: why would a high school put a pool on top of one of their buildings? The answer is simple. No one else does, swim and dive don't have to travel to practice, might as well make science as fun as possible, and where do you think the senior luau took place four years ago? 

        "Well." started Dr. Richie on the annoying topic."We took the water out because of terrible weather conditions and because of all the students ditching class and swimming in it. The pros of having it was a minority and it didn't seem approachable in bringing it back, but after a good discussion and a few good points we decided why not."

          Obviously bringing back the pool didn't seem that big or important, I mean this is a school after all. But just as Dr. Richie said its not like putting water back in it is going to charge a major fund or help from SPLOST. The only thing probably impeding the decision was the fact that students will still ditch school to swim in it. "A fence seemed like the only way around that problem," Added Dr. Richie,"but that seemed like to much to bother trifling with. Then I realized that ditching is ditching. We already have methods to stop students from ditching, but the ones that get away with it will still ditch. Bringing the pool back won't provoke ditching, but it will probably give them something to do when they ditch. At least we can keep an eye on them." 

 

         In conclusion, the pool has been a mystery to all student who have passed through Lassiter. I remember my senior brother telling me one day when he came home looking like he was just swimming one night in the middle of winter. He said he was just swimming in the pool above the science building. He was being sarcastic obviously not believing in it. Hopefully this time it will be known to the student body and will be seen as a Lassiter monument.   

            As a teenage, American citizen in the 21st century I cannot say that I have witnessed much this social issue myself. For almost all of time this issue has proved to be probably the oldest and most threatening of all time. It has caused hatred, betrayal, violence, agony, tears, loss, suffering, war, battles, death. It appears as a crude and purposeless idea that has been around for generations. It is racism. 

         

          Racism serves a broad social issue that causes many others. It could almost be described as "the" social issue, because,socially, it is an issue that causes issues. Slavery is one of the biggest examples that comes to my mind. 

 

          For starters, look at Russia and Ukraine, just because the Russians are more powerful in there opinion they see them as a disgrace of a race. I think this simplifies what racism really is. Not as people thinking others are weak because of there skin color, but that they are just more important and deserve dominion. This concept is seen through how people are treated. If you honestly thought that a group of people were trash and didn't deserve to live, then wouldn't you just banish or kill them? Instead we see people separating them or keeping them as slaves. I mean sure there are people like Hitler who thought this way, but mostly we see the controversy. 

          

               Secondly, I would like to focus on slavery, which is, in opinion, the largest and most crucial form of racism. It has thrived to hatred and rebellion caused by the greed and selfishness of men. Slavery has proved itself as one out of a small amount of social issues that have actually caused wars or major forms of violence. Quick and eerie, it sweeps over nations pulling them apart. The civil war in the United States along with other independent related movements have all been cause just to end the inequality or start it. It is a constant cycle that never seems to end. 

 

            This leads to the time of racism. Racism relates to the roller coaster metaphor. It goes up and down throughout all regions. America has been through tough times of slavery, but now it takes form as a sarcastic joke or crude humor. But then again, I just read a comic in the newspaper yesterday about it being weird living with other races.  And then in other regions its still seen as highly as we did decades ago. Which comes to the final point that racism can always be seen. It's like yin and yang where there is good, there's bad; where there is no racism there is. One cannot exist without another. 

        In conclusion, I see hardly even see races as an actual idea. If races weren't in different regions of the world from the start, I think that we wouldn't see it any differently then having different colored eyes or hair. But, having gradually developed, it unfortunately has created crisis. In my own religious and personal view, I see religion as just a theory and no people having more capabilities then others.