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Harton among winners of community essay contest
Oct 9, 2013 9:13 AM
By Tannika King - Faculty
Senior Sam Harton was named Darlington's winner of the Rome News-Tribune's annual One Book, Many Voices writing contest. This year, hundreds of area students submitted entries about Clyde Edgerton's "Night Train."
Winners were selected from each area high school. All winners had an opportunity to meet the author at a private reception before his talk on Oct. 9 at Rome City Auditorium.
Read the full text of Harton's essay below:
A cold wind rips off of Lake Michigan and cuts through his skin like a knife. He tells himself that he only has three more blocks to go and trudges through the brutal Chicago winter, snowflakes landing on his dark skin as he walks. He turns a corner into a dark alley, where he is almost blinded by the headlights of a red 2008 Honda Accord, parked outside the back of Al’s Pizzeria. As he walks he listens to his rhythmic footsteps, the howling wind, and the faint voices of Chicago’s nightlife. As he passes the car, the clicking of its locks interrupts his symphony. He acts as if he doesn’t notice, and continues home, the music of the streets silenced by his thoughts.
They are silent as they pull up to the front of his house. It’s one of the nicest homes she’s seen in Flowood, Mississippi, with its perfectly mowed lawn and enormous columns standing stoically on the front porch. As he opens the door, butterflies frenzy in her stomach. He tries to hide it, but she sees his eyes are filled with worry, too. They climb the steps to the porch, the columns becoming even more intimidating. As he opens the door, her heart reaches an unprecedented pace. His pale fingers intertwine with her dark ones as his mother enters the room. She sees her son and smiles but as she lays eyes on his guest, she raises her blond eyebrows in surprise, and then her pink lips curl into a disapproving frown.
Although America has made significant advancements in civil rights, racial tension still exists throughout the country. The tension is most obvious between blacks and whites, but is also present among Arabs, Hispanics, and more. Many people in this country who experience this tension claim to be “tolerant,” which I believe to be a misused word. People say that they are “tolerant” and “accepting” of the people that are different from them in order to seem progressive and open-minded. I find this strategy to be counterintuitive. Why do these people only “tolerate” those who are different instead of embracing them? Are they really that different just because of their skin tone? What gives us the right to simply endure one’s existence when we are all created equal?
When I think of the “self” I want to “present to the public” I know that I want to be seen as someone who does not merely “tolerate” a person that is different than I am, but rather one that embraces him or her. I don’t want to assume that the black man walking by my car has harmful intentions or judge the interracial couple that seems to be as happy as a pair that is of the same race. I want to eliminate racial lines from my mind and see people for who they are and not their color. I hope that I can be a person that welcomes all types of people, no matter their race, nationality, religion, or sexual orientation, and that people will see me as not just a “tolerant” individual, but as an embracing one.
Winners were selected from each area high school. All winners had an opportunity to meet the author at a private reception before his talk on Oct. 9 at Rome City Auditorium.
Read the full text of Harton's essay below:
A cold wind rips off of Lake Michigan and cuts through his skin like a knife. He tells himself that he only has three more blocks to go and trudges through the brutal Chicago winter, snowflakes landing on his dark skin as he walks. He turns a corner into a dark alley, where he is almost blinded by the headlights of a red 2008 Honda Accord, parked outside the back of Al’s Pizzeria. As he walks he listens to his rhythmic footsteps, the howling wind, and the faint voices of Chicago’s nightlife. As he passes the car, the clicking of its locks interrupts his symphony. He acts as if he doesn’t notice, and continues home, the music of the streets silenced by his thoughts.
They are silent as they pull up to the front of his house. It’s one of the nicest homes she’s seen in Flowood, Mississippi, with its perfectly mowed lawn and enormous columns standing stoically on the front porch. As he opens the door, butterflies frenzy in her stomach. He tries to hide it, but she sees his eyes are filled with worry, too. They climb the steps to the porch, the columns becoming even more intimidating. As he opens the door, her heart reaches an unprecedented pace. His pale fingers intertwine with her dark ones as his mother enters the room. She sees her son and smiles but as she lays eyes on his guest, she raises her blond eyebrows in surprise, and then her pink lips curl into a disapproving frown.
Although America has made significant advancements in civil rights, racial tension still exists throughout the country. The tension is most obvious between blacks and whites, but is also present among Arabs, Hispanics, and more. Many people in this country who experience this tension claim to be “tolerant,” which I believe to be a misused word. People say that they are “tolerant” and “accepting” of the people that are different from them in order to seem progressive and open-minded. I find this strategy to be counterintuitive. Why do these people only “tolerate” those who are different instead of embracing them? Are they really that different just because of their skin tone? What gives us the right to simply endure one’s existence when we are all created equal?
When I think of the “self” I want to “present to the public” I know that I want to be seen as someone who does not merely “tolerate” a person that is different than I am, but rather one that embraces him or her. I don’t want to assume that the black man walking by my car has harmful intentions or judge the interracial couple that seems to be as happy as a pair that is of the same race. I want to eliminate racial lines from my mind and see people for who they are and not their color. I hope that I can be a person that welcomes all types of people, no matter their race, nationality, religion, or sexual orientation, and that people will see me as not just a “tolerant” individual, but as an embracing one.
