When Liberal Memorial Library decided to participate in the One State/One Book Initiative, I never imagined I would learn so much from reading a book and discussing its contents with members of the community. Even as a librarian, I am constantly amazed at how a book can mesmerize me and not only educate, but also give insight into events. When I first opened The Learning Tree by Gordon Parks last month, I was shocked to discover Newt loses his virginity in the first few pages. I was a little surprised to be reading about a Kansas tornado in one paragraph and then visualizing the spontaneity of Big Mabel and twelve year old Newt’s encounter in the next.

However, the more one thinks about how fast life comes at us, the more one understands how spontaneity and dreams influence our decisions. Martin Luther King Jr. once had a dream that “all people would be judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin”. What a wonderful dream to have, and yet, here we are 40 years later and still discrimination and segregation exist to some extent in our society. In The Learning Tree Newt’s father looks out over Cherokee Flats while on top of the church and describes the layout of the town: the rich white area, the poor white area, and the not white area. If we stood on top of the water tower, what would we see? I’m guessing we would see: a rich, predominately white area; a middle class, predominately white area; an above poverty, not white area; and another section of town that you can barely make out because of the distance between it and the water tower.

I’m willing to go out on a limb of my learning tree and say that segregation does still exist and it’s apparent in our own community. But is it societal segregation or self-segregation? Maybe it’s both. Society often dictates which professions we will enter and how much we earn, which can impact where we live. Cultural similarities and the convenience of friends may keep us from moving across town to a new neighborhood. Regardless of the reason we chose to live where we do, outside influences help us make our decisions, and in recent years there has been a shift from black versus white to everyone versus the Latinos.

I’m still not certain where I stand on opening the borders to all immigrants, because after all, the United States was founded by immigrants. The English, French, and Spanish conquered the native populations and forced them into slavery or exile. Perhaps Americans are worried the new immigrants will force our citizenry into a new form of slavery.

Prejudice and segregation still survive in our country, state, and community. Kansas Reads…The Learning Tree by Gordon Parks is a One State/One Book initiative meant to bridge a gap between the society our forefathers lived in and the society we hope our children experience. As a community we need to ask tough questions about how we judge our residents; is it by the color of their skin, the status of their citizenship, or how they treat their neighbors; and let this discussion be our community’s learning tree.

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