I live in a white family in an overwhelmingly white city, where white privilege allows most people not to have to think about race in day-to-day life. Perhaps this was because no one ever questioned the relevance that race has on nearly all aspects of life (Long, 2012). I went to a small high school without a single black student in my class. The only racial minorities were three Asian students, all of whom grew up in America. My entire high school had maybe 400 students at the most, and you could probably count the people of color on one hand. My school certainly did not experience the struggles of predominately black schools in the South – a lack of basic resources was never an issue (Rose, 2007). Many students drove themselves to school, there were up-to-date textbooks and laptops provided, and the classrooms were decent. I became somewhat more racially aware during high school through my education. I am from a very liberal area of Maine, and my high school teachers were not afraid to teach work by minorities or about the hardships put on minorities throughout history. Within the student population, there was a mix of high racial conscientiousness, as well as those who based their racial information off stereotypes (Activity 8.10 – …show more content…
Occasionally one white, usually male student would use the “n word” when referring to one of his friends. While the intent behind using the word might have been innocent, a white person cannot appreciate the linguistic relativity (Activity 3.10 – Linguistic Relativity) behind the “n word”. They do not see or experience the world as a black person. They may not even share control processes that people of color have (Activity 3.6 – Culture and Memory). I have always felt that white people who use African-American vernacular are out of line, and have made a conscious effort not to appropriate other cultures in ways such as this. I was introduced to feminism in high school, and this as informed my view of the world ever since. I became aware of white feminism, which is feminism that mainly focuses on the white perspective. I learned that it is important to account for the way different groups communicate, and even see the world – whether it is differences in gender (He Said, She Said, n.d.) or differences among age, race, sexuality, etc. (Activity 6.9 - Client’s and Counselor’s