Your Experiences are not Universal

Your experiences are not universal Through this week’s reading, one particular idea stood out to me. That will be the third guideline stated by Sensoy and DiAngelo (2017, P11) – “Let go of personal anecdotal evidence and look at broader societal patterns”. Human societies are filled with a wide variety of cultures each with its own uniqueness. With this diversity comes with people living through completely different experiences. And to my understanding, personal attitudes and beliefs are largely based on our core values formed through our past experiences. Attitudes and beliefs are the basis for what makes each person unique. However, we often hold our personal experiences and opinions as facts and use them to make inferences about what we don't know. But no one can fully experience everything the human society has to offer, thus people often come to an incomplete or sometimes incorrect conclusion. A very funny example I have regarding this topic is related to food. From where I grew up in China, there is a regional savoury cuisine called “Zongzi” made with sticky rice, peanuts, and pork belly. We will have this cuisine when it comes to a particular traditional holiday every year. This salty, fatty dish has become a staple memory of my childhood. An opportunity presented later in my life where I got to try a dessert variation of this dish originated from another part of China. My young and naive self felt disgusted and even offended because they changed how “Zongzi” is supposed to taste. I start to argue with other people and refuse to acknowledge that it is their traditional cuisine as well. Not until I immigrated to Canada and experienced a lot more different people and cultures, that I realized “Zongzi” is not just a traditional dish in my hometown. Many variations exist in other parts of China and Asia as well. I gained an appreciation for all the different types of “Zongzi”, and they are equally delicious in different ways. The above example perfectly demonstrated that I took my personal experience and interpreted it as universal. Not until I gained more perspective and recognized my own limitation, that I became more understanding and subjective. A more serious example brought up by Peggy Mclntosh is privileges and discrimination. It is not news that racism exists, but to what extent is often up to debate. In fact, it is very difficult to grasp the level of racism around us. Because people either are fortunate enough to not had experienced racial discrimination, which in their eyes racism does not exist. Or they had experienced it, which will leave a huge impression because negative emotion tends to be more powerful. The human being as a victim of confirmation bias will frequently search for and recall information in a way that supports prior beliefs or values. Which makes it very difficult to study such a personal and sensitive subject. “Many, perhaps most, of our white students in the U.S. think that racism doesn’t affect them because they are not people of colour; they do not see ‘whiteness’ as a racial identity,” said Peggy Mclntosh (1989). It is very easy to be in denial if what people are telling us conflicts with what we experienced. It also connected to the next guideline stated by Sensoy and DiAngelo, the best time to self-reflect is whenever we feel defensive or offended. This is the reason why I believe it is important for us to put away our own emotions and personal experiences, and objectively look at the statistics, hence proper action can be made. And hopefully will create a better place for us to live in. Parents pass their attitudes and beliefs to their children. If the parents love to play hockey, they will likely pass on this to their children. Sara Florence (2018) said “Without my father’s generation that was born in the ‘nick of time,’ there would be no foundation for our present knowledge and understanding of Haida culture and ceremony.” (p10) Our parents’ ideology will greatly affect our understanding of everything around us. Any misleading ideology that is passed on might further influences the next generation. Thus, I do think it is crucial that we realize this and develop selfawareness. Look at the bigger picture and give our next generation an accurate portrait of society. Because popular attitudes and beliefs usually become the standard for what we think.