Courageous Conversations Final Paper-
These past few weeks we have learned about race, the differences between them, and how to discuss it. We got the chance to ask and discuss different topics about race with a variety of different people, including senior citizens and college students. Also, during this project we as small groups got to focus on separate racial gaps and study why they existed, how people are fixing it, and how we can fix it. My personal opinion about race stands at a point where I can accept that we are different with varying cultures and history, but I believe that we are all equal people and we should not have this diversity between races.
During this project, I learned the most about how we over the years have created racial gaps in society. This started many years ago but still exists today because we have been taught by those older than us that this is how it should be even though it it wrong. These gaps exist in things we experience everyday, including different amounts of money we make or who graduates from school. I also learned how the way we perceive race and how we act upon our differences has changed and shifted over the years. I noticed this mostly from when we interviewed the senior citizens and the college students. Interviewing the senior citizens taught me that fifty or sixty years ago people still treated those of a different race like they weren't people, separating them from us by making them attend separate schools, and living in separate neighborhoods even. I feel that this proves that we can stop the racial gaps because only sixty years ago society was this way,but we managed to change a lot over the years for the better. After interviewing the college students I learned that in our generation their are still people who judge people on their race. I learned this after students told us about how they were discriminated against because of their race in sports they played in. Learning this is important because it teaches us how we should treat others by who they are not what they are.
During this process I have grown because I better understand how some people of different race grow up differently because of the way the society we created has taught them they are different. I think it's important that we change this and inform more people about this situation. I didn't know this discrimination was still happening until this project because i've never been taught that our community sees us as different growing up. I believe that my classmates have grown during this project by learning how to discuss race as a class and coming to different conclusions about how we can fix the issues those before us have started.
I've learned that it's important to change the way we as people engage and understand race and I think we need to learn how to convince those left who still believe discrimination against race is still right, that they are doing the wrong thing and that it will effect us from years to come in a negative way. I grew up in a fortunate environment where race varies where i've always lived and that we have been considered equal. It's Important that we make this the only society t live in because I know their places where people live miserable lives because they are considered different. One way I know we can fix this is if we start teaching that at all schools in in interactive way. I herd of experiments where people who have been privileged because of what they are got a chance to experience what it's like to be called different like in the eye color experiment. The eye color experiment is where a teacher seperated kids from their eye color and gave certain groups different privileges, than switching it the next day so students could see what it was like to be treated differently. If we can do more things like this for kids while they are still growing up and learning, more people could grow up understanding that we need to fix this gap.
Hopefully humanity will learn to accept everyone for who they are one day. I know it won't happen in my generation, maybe not even in the next. Were not that lucky, but if we give an effort, maybe we can someday acknowledge people not depending on their race. I've learned that we have improved in coming closer to this goal over the years and that it's taking so long because their are people who don’t care and don’t want to try. Maybe if we could find a way to show everyone what it's like to be not as privileged as others we could do more to fix this gap in society.
These past few weeks we have learned about race, the differences between them, and how to discuss it. We got the chance to ask and discuss different topics about race with a variety of different people, including senior citizens and college students. Also, during this project we as small groups got to focus on separate racial gaps and study why they existed, how people are fixing it, and how we can fix it. My personal opinion about race stands at a point where I can accept that we are different with varying cultures and history, but I believe that we are all equal people and we should not have this diversity between races.
During this project, I learned the most about how we over the years have created racial gaps in society. This started many years ago but still exists today because we have been taught by those older than us that this is how it should be even though it it wrong. These gaps exist in things we experience everyday, including different amounts of money we make or who graduates from school. I also learned how the way we perceive race and how we act upon our differences has changed and shifted over the years. I noticed this mostly from when we interviewed the senior citizens and the college students. Interviewing the senior citizens taught me that fifty or sixty years ago people still treated those of a different race like they weren't people, separating them from us by making them attend separate schools, and living in separate neighborhoods even. I feel that this proves that we can stop the racial gaps because only sixty years ago society was this way,but we managed to change a lot over the years for the better. After interviewing the college students I learned that in our generation their are still people who judge people on their race. I learned this after students told us about how they were discriminated against because of their race in sports they played in. Learning this is important because it teaches us how we should treat others by who they are not what they are.
During this process I have grown because I better understand how some people of different race grow up differently because of the way the society we created has taught them they are different. I think it's important that we change this and inform more people about this situation. I didn't know this discrimination was still happening until this project because i've never been taught that our community sees us as different growing up. I believe that my classmates have grown during this project by learning how to discuss race as a class and coming to different conclusions about how we can fix the issues those before us have started.
I've learned that it's important to change the way we as people engage and understand race and I think we need to learn how to convince those left who still believe discrimination against race is still right, that they are doing the wrong thing and that it will effect us from years to come in a negative way. I grew up in a fortunate environment where race varies where i've always lived and that we have been considered equal. It's Important that we make this the only society t live in because I know their places where people live miserable lives because they are considered different. One way I know we can fix this is if we start teaching that at all schools in in interactive way. I herd of experiments where people who have been privileged because of what they are got a chance to experience what it's like to be called different like in the eye color experiment. The eye color experiment is where a teacher seperated kids from their eye color and gave certain groups different privileges, than switching it the next day so students could see what it was like to be treated differently. If we can do more things like this for kids while they are still growing up and learning, more people could grow up understanding that we need to fix this gap.
Hopefully humanity will learn to accept everyone for who they are one day. I know it won't happen in my generation, maybe not even in the next. Were not that lucky, but if we give an effort, maybe we can someday acknowledge people not depending on their race. I've learned that we have improved in coming closer to this goal over the years and that it's taking so long because their are people who don’t care and don’t want to try. Maybe if we could find a way to show everyone what it's like to be not as privileged as others we could do more to fix this gap in society.