Reflective Essay On Race And Ethnicity

Growing up on the south side of Chicago, Illinois afforded the person the status or label of being African American and from a low socioeconomic status. The only diversity of race, for me, was in the public schools of Chicago, the teachers. Chicago has the distinction of being one of the most segregated cities in the United States with the south side having negative core factors in health, housing, education, and employment and crime. My true baptism in diversity arose from a job in my junior year of high school. When given the opportunity to work with college students from the University of Chicago, I had perceived notions regarding the experience. I believed that the college students would all be white and they would look down on me as a person. Nothing was further from the truth. The college students were respectful but also genuinely cared about whom I was as a person. There was one black student, a Bill Gates Scholar, who was studying theology. Our assignment was in the heart of the poorest and most dangerous area called Woodlawn. The college students were fearless and allowed us to guide them through the area. In addition, the black college student knew very little about black Chicago. I found myself opening up to them about an array of issues, …show more content…
I believed they would all be black, poor and drug addicts. Nothing was further from the truth. There were women with their children, senior seniors and there was diversity in the lines: black, white, and Hispanic. I was embarrassed for my ignorance. When given an opportunity to chat, each had a story to tell regarding missed opportunities: having a baby to soon, no father in the home, high school dropout, and the list goes on, but the most detrimental to their life was not having a job, and not having access to mental