“Race itself is a social construct, a learned category. It’s meaning is communicated through interaction with our own and other racial groups” (Howard, 2006). In other words, popular to contrary belief, race, for the most part, is not designated by physical properties; rather race is created based on social groupings of individuals. Additionally, race may be considered a hierarchical system, where one race is ranked atop another. More often than not, the Caucasian, or white, race is positioned over those of color. This so-called “inferior” race may include African Americans and Latinos, who now compose thirty-seven percent of the total population (Lo Wang, 2016). While African Americans and Latinos are often considered the minority, I attempted
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Personally, I was intrigued to experience this particular situation in consideration with the knowledge gained throughout the semester. My expectations were to naturally look and feel different. Furthermore, my goal was to receive a glimpse of what I do not know about the “other”. Glen E. Singleton, author of Courageous Conversations about Race, stated, “I don’t know what I don’t know” whilst discussing the matter of race. Put simply, I understand that I cannot possibly know everything about another culture; I may lack the understanding, or misconstrue certain aspects from which I do know. Therefore, I endeavored to possess an open mind while observing. Moreover, I ventured to appreciate race as a factor in which one cannot ignore. For what I might find offensive, another may not and vice versa (Johnson 2006). Allan Johnson, author of Privilege, Power, and Difference, discusses this concept in his book. He describes this notion as the “platinum rule”. For this reason I decided to wear a nurse costume, rather than the cop costume I originally bought in New Paltz. For I was unsure how the attendees felt about recent issues in the media, such as the black lives matter movement. I avoided the costume as to not offend my friend or
Personally, I was intrigued to experience this particular situation in consideration with the knowledge gained throughout the semester. My expectations were to naturally look and feel different. Furthermore, my goal was to receive a glimpse of what I do not know about the “other”. Glen E. Singleton, author of Courageous Conversations about Race, stated, “I don’t know what I don’t know” whilst discussing the matter of race. Put simply, I understand that I cannot possibly know everything about another culture; I may lack the understanding, or misconstrue certain aspects from which I do know. Therefore, I endeavored to possess an open mind while observing. Moreover, I ventured to appreciate race as a factor in which one cannot ignore. For what I might find offensive, another may not and vice versa (Johnson 2006). Allan Johnson, author of Privilege, Power, and Difference, discusses this concept in his book. He describes this notion as the “platinum rule”. For this reason I decided to wear a nurse costume, rather than the cop costume I originally bought in New Paltz. For I was unsure how the attendees felt about recent issues in the media, such as the black lives matter movement. I avoided the costume as to not offend my friend or