Personal Narrative: Race Was Not The Cause For Slavery

Week Five This week was the first time I heard that race was not the cause for slavery. This was shocking and I’m surprised by how long it took me to hear this. I’m still struggling with the idea that people have not viewed everyone as the same as far as being human and worthy. This saddens me. Not only did we continue on with the subject of a race this week, we also discussed gender, disability, and sexuality in our readings. I have to say that I am still surprised by peoples’ reactions to other people. In our text, Takaki discusses how a cab driver was confused over him being an American. I just can’t grasp people thinking that way. I don’t assume by the way that someone looks would state that they are not American. I would notice an accent more than I would anything else. I’m not sure if this has to do with moving all over different states and out of the country while my husband was in the military, but it still makes my jaw drop. I also know after this week that I really need to start practicing questioning techniques. Apparently this is an area I stumbled over because I am not entirely comfortable talking about race. However, when I was asked to take questions and ask them in an interview format, I really struggle. I wonder why I have not learned any of this in past history classes and want to know, why is …show more content…
I have had the view of anyone can help themselves from certain situations. This was my own life experience that has caused me to believe that this is true for everyone. I grew up very poor and even homeless at times. Now I have made my life better to make sure my children will not have to deal with the same type of childhood that I did. However, after reading the web of institutional racism, I now know that this isn’t the case for everyone. Which brings me to understanding the institutional power. It is all starting to make so much more sense for me