After reading To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, I’ve begun to understand the deep roots of racism. According to Nesbit, the only way to eradicate racism in the United States is by recognizing racism and talking about it. Throughout this unit, we had lessons about race and read literature from when racism was more apparent and undisguised. Reading the poem “Strange Fruit” by Abel Meeropol made me realize how frightful racism is. Reading lines such as, “And the sudden smell of burning flesh!” (Meeropol), made me feel the fear and grief on a personal level. I could put myself into their shoes. It’s one thing to read facts from a history book, but it’s another to read writing from a person who had first-hand encounters and felt the horror.