Separated Pasts: Growing Up White in the Segregated South is an award-winning novel written by Melton A. McLaurin that delves into the era of the 1950s when racism was evident on every street corner. McLaurin honestly explores the relationships he had with his white peers as well as African Americans during his childhood in the American South. Throughout the book, McLaurin explains how segregated the small town of Wade is and how black people will never be considered equal to white people, no matter how hard they work or how honest they are. I believe that McLaurin adequately proves that Wade was a town entirely divided over the ideas of racism and segregation, and how these thoughts affected the people of that era, and how McLurin came to see around these ideas. is a dark stain on American society as we know it, a time when a group of individuals believed they held greater power in all aspects of life and demanded that since they held said power, that group demanded that They are treated better than the other group of individuals, African-Americans. The belief of the white people in this small town of Wade is the very definition of racism. But among all this, a young McLaurin, McLurin found himself in a difficult situation when he was younger when a needle incident brought his thoughts into those of the older Caucasian population of the town of Wade. McLaurin knew from a very young age that this whole view of racism and stereotypes was very wrong: "It wasn't right and I knew it, and I found that knowledge quite embarrassing" (p. 98), but he didn't couldn't help but change his perspective slightly when he was playing basketball with a group of white and black kids. ...... middle of paper ......ism and segregation is what will allow any form of society to reach its maximum potential. But fear was not evident among those who challenged the question, Betty Jo, Street, Jerry and Miss Carrie. They confronted the problem in different ways, whether by simply living or by deliberately trying to change an individual's perspective. McLurin illustrated the reality of segregation in the South, in the town of Wade, and how it was a sort of status quo for the town. The memories of his childhood and young adulthood, the people he met, these individuals each held a key to how they influenced young McLurin's thoughts on this issue, and perhaps helped unlock a way to challenge the problem and make the future generation aware of the dark stain on society, allowing for more growth and maximum potential in the years to come.