Throughout this semester I have amassed a significant awareness of the sensitive issues that ultimately drive prejudices, racism, and ignorance. I have observed a severe margin of society that chooses to ignore the fact that racism is still alive today and yet very few take action to put a stop to it or understand how desensitized the rest of the country (and/or world) reacts. If I had a small way in helping society better understand coexistence to mitigate racism, in my opinion, the best way to go about this would putting the racist in the shoes of the victim. The following paragraphs will describe my plan to educate racist, people of prejudice, while using Harrow’s Cycle of Socialization. For example, you are walking down the street of
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You grab your lunch and make sure you have your supplies for the day. You walk to your bus stop and are surprised to see 4 new black students standing there. Some of the younger white kids are looking a bit nervous and confused. The bus comes to pick you up and everyone climbs awkwardly and drudgingly on. The next thing you realize is half of the bus is black and half is white. You decide to be the brave one and make the obvious joke and with a deep breath and a lot of courage you say “What is this, the 1950’s?” Everyone looks around at each other not knowing what to expect. It begins to get awkward and you look down and shamefully away. All of a sudden one of the black students starts laughing hysterically and directs his comment towards you “I like you, man. Come sit over here”. You pick yourself up out of the seat, carefully trying not to hit the other bus riders in the head with your oversized bag. You sit down and immediately start hitting it off with Marcus. Time passes and a couple months down the road you decide to invite Marcus over for dinner. However, your mom isn’t that welcoming, she comes from a different place and time. So you start devising a plan in order to get your mom on the same page as …show more content…
This to me is the most liberating and humble form of beating oppression. By engaging in a non-aggressive argument centered on education and self-realization, the racist or prejudice can start to observe and understand the other side of the racism. The anticipated response I would assume I would get would be one of understanding or bafflement. One concept to keep in mind while having a conversation like this is to understand the racist point of view before you attempt explaining your side. Using the last part of Harrow’s Cycle of Socialization makes them understand the repetitive cycle that continuously occurs in society today. Doing nothing will permanently have you stuck in Harrow’s Cycle, instead try breaking out of it, by educating people, raising consciousness, and questioning the morality of someone’s
You grab your lunch and make sure you have your supplies for the day. You walk to your bus stop and are surprised to see 4 new black students standing there. Some of the younger white kids are looking a bit nervous and confused. The bus comes to pick you up and everyone climbs awkwardly and drudgingly on. The next thing you realize is half of the bus is black and half is white. You decide to be the brave one and make the obvious joke and with a deep breath and a lot of courage you say “What is this, the 1950’s?” Everyone looks around at each other not knowing what to expect. It begins to get awkward and you look down and shamefully away. All of a sudden one of the black students starts laughing hysterically and directs his comment towards you “I like you, man. Come sit over here”. You pick yourself up out of the seat, carefully trying not to hit the other bus riders in the head with your oversized bag. You sit down and immediately start hitting it off with Marcus. Time passes and a couple months down the road you decide to invite Marcus over for dinner. However, your mom isn’t that welcoming, she comes from a different place and time. So you start devising a plan in order to get your mom on the same page as …show more content…
This to me is the most liberating and humble form of beating oppression. By engaging in a non-aggressive argument centered on education and self-realization, the racist or prejudice can start to observe and understand the other side of the racism. The anticipated response I would assume I would get would be one of understanding or bafflement. One concept to keep in mind while having a conversation like this is to understand the racist point of view before you attempt explaining your side. Using the last part of Harrow’s Cycle of Socialization makes them understand the repetitive cycle that continuously occurs in society today. Doing nothing will permanently have you stuck in Harrow’s Cycle, instead try breaking out of it, by educating people, raising consciousness, and questioning the morality of someone’s