yesterday was iraqi refugees, today is racism and white privilege (again). and somehow it all relates. i am not always loving my classes or my job at the house, but i am enjoying them. the big picture is this: i am intentionally (and unintentionally) forcing myself to question and rethink, question and rethink, and for this, i am grateful.
today in my counseling the culturally diverse class we did a fishbowl exercise on white identity models. one of my peers shared about studying diversity as a sociology major-- [in her experience] one thing she often notices about white people is the way they try to overcompensate by continuously putting down their own race in order to be accepted by people who aren't white. a light bulb went on for me: this is and has been me. though this is a natural part of the identity model, i felt shame and embarrassment. i know i need to pick myself up, but what a hard place to sit in. however, i know that with the possibility of growth comes inevitable pain. [i have a long way to go]
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
somehow this all relates.
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3 comments:
dude that's the problem, it's always gotta be about race. if we stop making everything about race, things won't be about race anymore and people will just be people.
yes, this is true. but it is equally important that we don't play "colorblind"-- people will just be people, but we have to remind ourselves that each of us has a different level of privilege.
well don't encourage the problem and it won't snowball. Don't keep reminding yourself that some have advantages, thus prolonging the problem and ensuring that the issue is fresh in the minds of everyone. Each of us has different levels of priveledge but we don't make it any less stereotypical by the molds we continue to house ourselves in due to continued focus on the past.
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