By Anson Huang

Goree is an island with perfect phenomenon. The sky is as blue as ocean. The air is that kind of fresh that makes you feel good. When you climb on the top of the mountain, you can see the coast view and feel the wind from the ocean blow on your face. Every thing seems perfect.

But 200 years ago this picturesque island used to be hell for the Senegalese and other West Africans taken as slaves. A bunch of different white people came to the island. They behaved as if they represent the peak of civilization of human beings. These “civilized people” caught a lot of black people and used this place as one of the transportation stations for their triangle slave trade.

When I got into the slave house, I really saw the view of the heaven and hell are at the same place. The upstairs is for slave owners. The wall of their rooms is that kind of bright. The living conditions are that kind of good. And downstairs is for slaves. They got treated like animals. Their room is super dark and they have to receive the inhumane treatment. These two opposite views appear in the same house.

Once I really got to there, I felt the pain and helplessness among those slaves who used to stay in here. After I came out of the slave house I wondered about the people who said they represent the civilization when they arrived here from Europe. Really, did they civilize things? I’ve heard a saying that when you have 10,000 readers, you have 10,000 Hamlets. Every one will have their own answer. But for me it is simple – civilization can not include the mistreatment of other humans.

I am gratitude that the people around me make me this kind of great environment. But there is a saying in China that called 居安思危（ju an si wei）Which means when our living conditions getting better we can’t forget the dangerous things that may happen on your head. We have to think about and really experience the racial discrimination incidents happen. We need to solve the problems of history to make a world that really is made by the human beings and can be called civilization.