Identities

There are so many new perspectives and lessons I learned from the videos and readings this week. In particular, I found iO Tillet Wright, Lana Wachowski, and Stella Young to be very inspirational. In Wright’s TED talk, she really opened my eyes to the complexity of one’s identity. At some point in the video, she mentioned how she realized her mission of photographing as many “gays” as she could was flawed because there were a “million different shades of gay.” She realized she was creating the very thing she had spent her life trying to avoid- another box. She watched so many existential crises unfold in front of her when she added the question to the release form that asked people to quantify themselves on a scale of one to 100 percent gay. When I talk about sexuality or gender identification, I am often worried I am not using the politically correct terms and coming off as ignorant. But the truth is, maybe I am kind of ignorant when it comes to this subject. I have so many other aspects of my identity, and they all seem easier to deal with and clearly identify so I tend to ignore the subject whenever I can. While I have known since I was a kid that I am not straight, I wouldn’t consider myself as gay. And I don’t really feel the need to find a label for myself.  And that was kind of the point of her talk- we shouldn’t feel the need to put ourselves in a box. Everything is fluid and it we really shouldn’t feel the need to identify as one or the other. It’s ok to be “grey.”

Stella Young’s TED talk really gave me a perspective I have never thought of before. She criticized society for exploiting disabled people to make themselves feel better about their own selves. I am definitely guilty of this one. Whenever I feel bad about myself, I often think to myself that I should not complain because some people have it worse. For example, I’ll think that I shouldn’t complain that my thighs are too big because at least I have legs. I shouldn’t complain that I’m not as smart as others because at least I’m not mentally challenged. Young says that this is wrong because disabled people should not be considered extraordinary just for being able to get out of their bed in the morning and remember their name. They should be held to the same standard as non-disabled people. That said- I found her to be very inspirational- not because she is a disabled person, but because she is a smart and independent woman with a successful career. Lana Wachowski’s acceptance speech was very uplifting. I was very inspired by her courage. Not just because she is openly trans, but because you could see that she was very nervous to be up there making a speech. She was doing it for all the other people out there like her who might feel lost. She was putting her fears aside to help others and that is something that is very inspirational. 

Structures and Institutions

All of the readings this week were very interesting, but the video “Frontline: Dropout Nation” really stood out to me. It was easy to see how this week’s theme of structural and institutionalized discrimination affected the students of Sharpstown High School. The school’s population was primarily Hispanic and African American and also accounted for one top ranking drop out schools or “dropout factories” in Houston. Those two factors are not just a coincidence.

The kids that end up at schools like these have most likely already fallen behind academically a year or two from where they should be, but what is really sad is why they have fallen behind. The few kids shown in the video had some really tough life stories. One of the girl’s mom had just died and she was homeless, another boy had just moved to Houston from California to get away from gang violence, and another boy’s dad had just got deported and there was a fear his mom would be deported as well. If I was in those situations, it would be very hard to focus on school. It reminded me why I want to go into the field of social work. I want to be able to work within these broken systems such as being able to help find a solution, or at least part of the solution, to why these kids are dropping out of school. With each kid, their issue stemmed from trouble within their family, the law, poverty, and one common factor- they were persons of color.

As mentioned in this week’s introduction on Canvas, it might be easy for an ignorant person to deny the fact that structural and institutionalized discrimination plays a big part in why these kid’s lives are so messed up. They might say that the reason these kids are having trouble is just because they are bad kids and are not putting in the effort. But when you look at statistics and see that these minorities are the one’s struggling in school, it is clear that it is structural discrimination. If those kids shown in the video had gotten the same chance at life as kids from a stable home- where food was available and there was at least one adult in their life to look out for them- they would have a better chance at graduating.

In the video, I noticed that most of the staff people were female. This goes back to the question asked at the intro of this section of “why is there any stigma attached to the ‘helping professions’ and so many fewer men in those jobs?” I think that a reason there is a stigma attached to these ‘helping professions’ and less men in the field than women is because society tells us that it is not “manly” to be caring and have a desire to help those who may need it. To show emotion is thought to be a sign of weakness. Also, most of these ‘helping professions’ are not the highest paying careers and in order for a man to be seen as “successful” they are encouraged to go to college with the intention of doing something that will result in a high paying job. Whereas women are raised to be nurturing and sensitive, which in turn, leaves them with a desire to work in these ‘helping professions’.           

Privilege

While all of the readings assigned this week were very interesting and enlightening, I found myself particularly drawn to Peggy MacIntosh’s, “Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack”. While I was reading it, I felt myself get especially full of emotion reading through her list of white privileges. Those feelings ranged from anger to jealousy to confusion to guilt then back to anger again because I could not claim those same privileges. I have a lot of confusion when it comes to what I identify as in terms of race. I am half Kenyan half American but usually just identify by saying, “as a person of color” so as not to ruffle anyone’s feathers or to identify as the “wrong” race. I cannot count the number of times a person has told me I am not black whenever I say something relating to black people or jokingly told me that I am the “whitest” black person they know. I’ve been asked why I don’t talk like a black person or have the same cultural traditions as many African American families which leads me to have to explain to them that my family is from Kenya and not all black people are from the same culture. I was raised by very open-minded parents who made it one of their goals to raise my brother and I in an environment where we wouldn’t feel our race defined who we were. That is why they decided to move us from a small town in South Dakota to Austin when we were little. Unfortunately, that didn’t stop me from realizing that I was not the “ideal” race or having some major identity issues when I got older.

       To give a little more background, my mother was born in a small, impoverished village in Eldoret, Kenya and overcame such large obstacles to get where she is now that it really makes me believe that anything is possible. My father grew up in completely opposite circumstances- he was born to a middle-class family in South Dakota and faced nowhere near the struggle my mom faced to get to where he is now. He is a middle-aged, educated, white man- society’s “ideal” citizen. That is, until he married a black woman and had two mixed kids. Anyways, back to Peggy MacIntosh’s article, she mentioned that it is important to identify your privileges. I realized that to better understand who I am and to turn some of the anger I feel knowing that society see’s the color of my skin as a disadvantage, I have to realize my privileges. I see my biggest privilege as having two loving parents who raised my brother and I in a safe and secure household free of drugs, abuse, or violence. Although we struggled financially early on, I never had to worry about much. All of my basic needs were met. While it might be easier to focus on what I don’t have, it is important to remember that privilege comes in all different forms and that I am in fact, quite privileged. 

Socialization

The topic of socialization covered in Adam’s book got me thinking about my own socialization as a child and how it affects the perspectives I have now. I grew up in Austin surrounded by diversity- at least in my circles- and people with open minds. I am half black, half white- my mom is from Kenya and my dad is from South Dakota. In a way, I think the fact that I have always been surrounded by such open-mindedness has negatively affected my ability to have tolerance for close-minded people. Because I was not exposed to that as a child, which seems like a good thing, I often get baffled when I meet someone in person who, for instance, supports Donald Trump. Whenever I hear that, my mind immediately starts racing and I start making assumptions that the person is racist and wants to send all immigrants back to their countries and they want to turn back time a hundred years and bring back slavery and make America white again. Then I take a step back and realize that I am doing exactly what I am accusing them of doing, being close-minded. Without even getting to know that person, I have already made these assumptions and determined that they are a bad person, when, in reality- they could be super nice and open-minded. But when I look at how I was socialized, it makes sense that I would react this way. I was taught that everyone should be treated equally no matter their race, gender, sexual preference, etc. so when I hear someone who doesn’t believe that- I think less of them. So that is definitely something I need to work on if I want to be able work with people from all walks of life, including those I might not agree with.     

I found the video, Independent Lens: Park Avenue: Money, Power& the American Dream, to be very eye-opening. While I knew there was a large divide between the top 1% and the rest of the people, I had no idea the history behind it or how it has sky-rocketed in the past decade. In the beginning of the video, they used the board game, Monopoly to portray the politics of being rich and poor. In this board game, everyone starts out with the same amount of money and an equal chance to win but in the end there is only one winner and everyone else are losers. As someone who has played many games of Monopoly, I found this comparison to be quite interesting. Every summer as a kid, my dad, brother, and I would play Monopoly on a regular basis. The game would get intense at times but when the game was over, we always respected whoever won because we knew the game was played fairly and we all had an equal chance to win. In the real world though, that is not the case. The experiment they did gave a more realistic approach, starting some people off with more money while setting the other player back by only allowing him to roll one dice. As the video explained, it is very rare that someone from the lower class will ever get to make it to the top 1%. People who live in the Bronx will likely never make it to the Park Avenue.

The "Love Has No Labels" video brought about the issue of diversity in love in such a positive way. The skeletons dancing displayed such an important message. While there might be genetic differences that separate people by gender, race, and appearance- we are all just skeletons underneath. If you could believe that those dancing skeletons loved each other, then when the couple behind the board stepped out- regardless of the genetic makeup, it would make it easier for you to see past that and see their love for each other. I really appreciated how the video displayed love as not just a romantic love but also just love in general- whether that be between two neighbors, or young children, or just friends- it showed that love truly has no labels.