Before this class, I believed that the 'real world' meant the real experiences that people of color face in the United States. I think the 'real world' that I see is that many Americans are fighting for freedom, racism is still going on, and inequality between genders. I also think America allows citizens to have the opportunity to find their American Dream. Like for example, economic opportunities give people to invest in their own education.
There are a lot of events and concepts that made an impression on me. The first concept that made an impression on me is the wealth gap between blacks and whites and how whites have more privileges than colored people. It made an impression on me because it made me realize that African Americans don’t make as much money as white Americans. 'White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack' by McIntosh P. talks about how men have more privileges than women. In our society, women are trying to improve the government and their society. However, men still likely have more privileges than women. It made an impact on me because I didn’t know that white American men are taught to not recognize the privileges they have. I believe White Americans need to know what privileges they have and know they should not have those privileges. They didn’t earn it themselves. They have it because they were born with it. I believe that these privileges should be avoided because this will not let colored people have the freedom they are supposed to have. McIntosh believes that most people don’t understand to impact the word 'privilege' has. People would think the word 'privilege' is earned or given by birth or luck. I think the word 'freedom' should not be considered something you have luck for not. Changing white Americans’ attitudes or personalities won’t end discrimination or racism. I think each individual can change their understanding and slowly accept each other. We must acknowledge the unknown dimensions.
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The next concept that left an impression on me is the class in America. In America, people often use a class to define someone else. Class in America should not define someone. Americans usually use a class to classify a person and their economic lines. Most people would get offended and do not like talking about class and class privileges. Masntsios mentioned people don’t like the word 'class'. She stated: “One participant responded, 'I hate the word class. We are responsible, fortunate people, old families, the people who have something'” (183). In the society that we live in, we don’t live in a classless class because we do have some rich and poor. In the article, the United States has an unequal distribution of household income. In addition, it stated: “Class affects more than lifestyle and material well-being, it has a significant impact on our physical and mental well-being as well” (191). It left an impression because I still see it is still going on. Class does affect people and the way to communicate. Not only communication but also their lifestyle. People who are in the low class do not have a lot of opportunities to get a good doctor for health and this leads people to get diseases. People who are in the lower class don’t have the same life as those who are in the higher class. People can’t choose what class they want and someone people born with a class that already set them. I don’t like it when people treat me differently because of my class and they won’t accept me. This is unacceptable because a class does not define a person and no one should judge it. We as Americans should treat people with the same respect, no matter what class they are in. Americans should start to adopt these types of practices to narrow the gaps in income and privilege.
My 'real world' has changed after taking this class because I’ve always thought the real world of America is full of opportunities and freedom. After taking this class, it made me change my point of view. It made me realize that colored people experienced hardships moving to America. They didn’t have freedom at first start. They faced a lot of discrimination. and they were treated unfairly. White Americans have the power to treat them differently. Colored people didn’t get accepted in their world. That is the reality of world America. People are fighting for their own freedom and fighting to get accepted. After the semester has ended, I will 'take home' the idea that many people who moved to America fought for us to have the freedom we have right now. I will also take home the concept of white privilege overpowering colored people and how colored people have to be discriminated against. I want to bring these concepts home so I can know how to help the generations. I want to know what is going on so I can educate myself so I can improve myself.
Through this semester, the first thing I learned is the difference between race, class, gender, and sexuality. In our society, we have roles for males and women. We have a specific role that each gender has to play. We accept that each gender has to dress this certain way, act, or talk this way. For example, girls have to dress more like a feminine and always be polite. While men are more strong and aggressive. Each culture or ethnic group has gender role expectations and people are expected to follow them. However, these expectations are changing. I also learned that gender stereotypes can affect people in many ways. This is significant because people need to learn how to accept one another and allow someone else to be different. These types of exceptions lead to stereotypes that won’t allow people to fully express who they really are and their beliefs. In our society today, we have to show the difference between gender and our roles. It left an impression on me because by knowing the differences, we can show ourselves and other people the differences between us. We now have to value our own role and our race.
The second thing I learned is that it is important to have an ethnic studies class as a required class. After reading J. Depenbrock's 'Ethnic Studies: A Movement Born of a Ban', I learned that learning in an ethnic studies class can allow the students to have a better understanding and ability to experience their culture and other cultures outside of a textbook. Significantly, having an ethnic class is very important. After being in an Asian American class, I became very open to many cultural studies. It helped me connect to people who are different than me or have a different race. I learned that the movement of ethnic studies began to respond to Arizona because they banned ethnic studies. After I read that reading, I feel like people think that learning ethnic studies would cause students to form controversial things. It left an impression on me because it helped me realize that students should take an ethnic studies class so they can have a connection to their past so they grow from it and their overall achievement increases. I actually developed a connection to my culture and it helped me improve my knowledge after taking this class. It was also amazing to learn about different cultures and it impacted the way I interact with other people who are different than me.
The third thing I learned from this class was the trafficking of women. I learned the hardships that women have to go through and why women should be recognized. Women don’t have a lot of rights and we have a lack of recognition of these rights for women. Chiang stated: “There has been no consistent approach to addressing trafficking in women” (323). Most women trafficking targeted mostly young girls and this affects them both mentally and physically. This is significant because I learned that women should have the right to speak up and have their own voice. Women should not be scared to walk by themselves or feel like they are always endangered. This left a big impression on me because I feel like it this not right that women trafficking is still happening and it should stop. I don’t get why women are seen to be weak and have to deserve this. This shows that people are abusing women's rights and treating them right. Women are supposed to be treated with respect and have their own voice for everything. In the past, women were not allowed to do what they wanted to do and they were always forced to do chores and watch the children. They can’t get married to whoever they want and are usually women are treated as a trade-off to do business between fathers. Women should be controlled by someone else and be treated as an object.
To conclude, I learned a lot throughout this semester. It gave me a bigger point of view of our government, race, and gender. I want to continue learning my own culture and share my own culture with other people. It gave me a real-world of America. I learned how the white American has power over colored people and has the most oppression. This class taught me how privilege plays out in our daily lives and the struggles of colored people and women.
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