Racism has been an everlasting problem throughout history simply because of skin tone, and one of the most well-known is the prejudice against African Americans. In “My Mother’s Dreams for Her Son, and All Black Children” Hilton Als, depicting what life was like as not just as a black person but also as a child.  During his childhood, he quoted “Standing by my mother’s living-room window, I tried, tentatively, to ask her why our world was burning, burning. She gave me a forbidding look: Boy, be quiet so you can survive, her eyes seemed to say.” based on his situation I believe what her mother meant to say was that social norms led to prejudice among groups of people, and in order to survive is to pretend that you don’t exist. This is very understandable in their time period due to ignorance, which leads to misbeliefs which in turn cause avoidable harm. he then followed up that by stating “Like any number of black boys in those neighborhoods, I grew up in a matrilineal society, where I had been taught the power—the necessity—of silence.” This reinforces his idea that society acts a certain way towards them, but in order to survive, everyone needs to mind their own business and whatever is happening around them doesn’t exist. Whether it be adult or kid, being judged solely by history, race, and culture is an act of prejudice, their ability to push through and adapt in this society is admiring. What really opened my eyes is when he wrote about “Black people, mostly men, were roaming the streets, periodically smashing car windows or overturning ashcans and torching rubbish. They were claiming what they felt to be a kind of freedom.” this situation even in my head feels like a surreal situation to be in, seeing chaos mixed with motives of revenge just so they can have their freedom.