W16 FE4 Summary, action and Peer reviews
| Week 16. You have spent a great amount of time on designing 3 hands-on projects. For the last Framework Essay, you only need to do: 1. Summarize Framework Essay 4 (FE4) pp.481-491 with 200+ words. 6 points. 2. Share what you learned from this course with at least 200 words. 8 points 3. Share what you can do to enhance human understanding related to diversity issues with 200+ words. 8 points. Add word count 1 point. 4. Review at least one peer's post with 50+ word. 3 points Copy and paste your contents and post on Discussion. Total 25 points. 4. Due on 5/13 (Sn) before 10 pm. |
Posted By Li-Chin Huang
05/04/2018 11:31 am
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Comments
04/26/2018 12:53 pm
After doing all sorts of assignments for this
course and learning about many of the differences that divide each and
everyone one of us, one many have feelings of accomplishment and some
feelings of being slightly overwhelmed by all of them content. Some may
even feel a little powerless to bring about social change in their own
life. These feelings are all normal, and there are a few things that one
can keep in mind.
One of the biggest things to keep in mind is that
learning changes us. Seeking higher education, keeps us informed about
the world around us, and teaches us about the problems we have seen and
continue to see in our society. Rather than ignore the problems, you
took time to learn about them through your schooling which is more than
some people will ever do.
You must be willing to work on changing yourself before you can
work on changing others. You must understand that the process of
becoming the best person that you can be takes lots of time with many
mistakes. You must be willing to understand your mistakes, rather than
get frustrated at making them. It is okay that you have privileges and
statuses. Everyone has them, but you need to be willing to learn about
them, the good things and bad things in order to grow and avoid false
pride.
Lastly, another thing to remember is that social
change also takes time, and you will never have all the answers you
exactly need. The path to social change is never already there. One must
be willing to go their own way, using their own methods to create the
social change that they want. No one else will do it better than you.
You must be willing to constantly search for some answers, even though
you may never get them. (308 words)
This was my first ever completely online course at
CVTC. I think that overall, I did well in this course. I had to learn
how to use my time wisely to get assignments done on time and to do a
thorough job on them. This first online course has made me more
comfortable with a different and new type of learning. I think that in
the future I may take more online courses since I had a very positive
experience with this online course.
Looking back at this course’s overall content, I
can say that I have learned many different things about human diversity
that I had not heard of before or was not super comfortable identifying.
I am now more comfortable when it comes to thinking and acting about
many of the subjects that were talked about in this course. I am also
able to apply most of the content studied to my current and future jobs
that involve working with the public. This course has overall made me
more aware of the history of diversity in the United States, and I would
now like to learn more about some of the subjects if I get a chance in
the future. (202 words)
While there are many things that this course has
taught me that I can do to enhance diversity, one of the main things
that I as an individual can do is to constantly use what I have learned
or experienced to teach others. I must also practice what I share and
teach them about. We as humans are constantly learning and adapting to
our environments. If our environments or the people around us do not
present a change to us, we cannot grow and change ourselves for the
better. Sometimes this process is hard because people will not listen to
what you have to say to them. It often seems easier to keep doing the
same thing, even though it is not right. However, you must be willing
to keep teaching and sharing information with them, even when they may
not listen to you the first or the twelfth time. You do not have to win
over everyone, you just have believe that what you are doing is making a
difference in the world around you, no matter how small it may seem. No
one has ever said that equality was an easy path to take. However, in
the long run it can result in remarkable things. (207 words)
05/01/2018 1:25 pm
Modify Date: 05/01/18 1:26pm
Modify Date: 05/01/18 1:26pm
Emily,
Great job summarizing the course. I too enjoyed and learned a lot
throughout the course. Thank goodness that we have the ability to adapt
to other things and to see and understand that we could be wrong and
know that we have the ability to make a change in ourselves and in
others. Congratulations on completing your first online course, this
will be my final one after many at CVTC. Good luck to you! (word count
75)
04/27/2018 7:40 am
Emily,
I love your comment about learning changing us, that is such a true statement. We all have to be willing also to let that learning change us to. Also I agree that changes will take time, and in order for that to happen.
Great job doing your first online course, you have a good understanding of the material and you showed good time management to get all your assignments done thoroughly.
I agree that teaching others on what you have learned and experienced is so very important in our world today. I have always liked that saying to practice what we preach, and I feel and agree with you that this is so important. (115 words)
I love your comment about learning changing us, that is such a true statement. We all have to be willing also to let that learning change us to. Also I agree that changes will take time, and in order for that to happen.
Great job doing your first online course, you have a good understanding of the material and you showed good time management to get all your assignments done thoroughly.
I agree that teaching others on what you have learned and experienced is so very important in our world today. I have always liked that saying to practice what we preach, and I feel and agree with you that this is so important. (115 words)
05/01/2018 1:19 pm
Essay IV talks to us about what we need to do as individuals and a
society to change the way we look at the changes to the opinions that
we believe to be the truth, but many times are stigmatisms, stereotypes,
or ideologies. It talks about how we can change these beliefs through
educating ourselves and those we influence to understand the differences
in our society and to help to accept them as right even though we have
been taught they are not. It tells us to become involved in the choices
that we make to create the changes that we need to see, even if it means
that we may not be here/there to see them. It helps us to believe that
we can do small seemingly insignificant things that can create amazing
changes. It explains to us the that the beliefs, stereotypes,
ideologies, and stigmas were created by humans therefore are easily
changed by humans. We need to learn to lead by example and stand up for
the right things to say, speak and believe rather than those that we
have been taught to believe to be true but in reality, are false. It
encourages us to “work on yourself first” then the rest will follow.
(word count 208)
The next question was one that I am kind of excited to answer. And the third is a big part of the answer to the first. What did I learn from this course and what can I do to enhance human understanding?
First, I do have the power to change the way I think and the beliefs that have been passed on to me based on the beliefs of others.
I also have the power to influence many others because of the things I do. I can educate my children to tolerate others that are different from them, to ask questions, rather than assume. To teach them the differences in what is a stereotype and an ideology. I can show them proof, by pointing things out to them in the world that we are all individuals, that we/they may be part of something but that does not mean that they are all of something. For example, the belief that all African Americans are great athletes. I can show them there are those that are clumsy or musically talented or artistic or many other traits. I can teach them to see past color, gender, sexuality, and all other differences and to see the person under those things. Help them to realize that they are startling similar to themselves. I have as an educator to do the same for my students. I can stand up for those and help others to see the way they are treating others and that it is wrong of them to do so. I also have the ability to praise those that initiate the changes and to encourage them to continue to do so.
I understand that I can disagree with the beliefs that were taught to me as a child and to do the things that are right and to help to change the opinions that they have. This can be achieved by simply educating them. I have the power to initiate change by doing small things that start a chain reaction to big things. I have learned that asking is not bad and people are happy to answer questions to help others to understand who they are and what they believe. We all have a story, we need to ask and be amazed at the story of others as well as that of ourselves.
I am very pleased with the things that I learned in this class it has helped me to be proud of the accomplishments that have been achieved to date but to also see that there are still many things that need to be addressed. (word count 433)
The next question was one that I am kind of excited to answer. And the third is a big part of the answer to the first. What did I learn from this course and what can I do to enhance human understanding?
First, I do have the power to change the way I think and the beliefs that have been passed on to me based on the beliefs of others.
I also have the power to influence many others because of the things I do. I can educate my children to tolerate others that are different from them, to ask questions, rather than assume. To teach them the differences in what is a stereotype and an ideology. I can show them proof, by pointing things out to them in the world that we are all individuals, that we/they may be part of something but that does not mean that they are all of something. For example, the belief that all African Americans are great athletes. I can show them there are those that are clumsy or musically talented or artistic or many other traits. I can teach them to see past color, gender, sexuality, and all other differences and to see the person under those things. Help them to realize that they are startling similar to themselves. I have as an educator to do the same for my students. I can stand up for those and help others to see the way they are treating others and that it is wrong of them to do so. I also have the ability to praise those that initiate the changes and to encourage them to continue to do so.
I understand that I can disagree with the beliefs that were taught to me as a child and to do the things that are right and to help to change the opinions that they have. This can be achieved by simply educating them. I have the power to initiate change by doing small things that start a chain reaction to big things. I have learned that asking is not bad and people are happy to answer questions to help others to understand who they are and what they believe. We all have a story, we need to ask and be amazed at the story of others as well as that of ourselves.
I am very pleased with the things that I learned in this class it has helped me to be proud of the accomplishments that have been achieved to date but to also see that there are still many things that need to be addressed. (word count 433)
05/13/2018 5:14 pm
I like that you stated a few times that we have the "power" to
change and to make change. It often seems that, well I am just one
person, how can what I do matter. Like you state, you educate your
children, that in itself is power to make a change now and in the future
as they will educate others around them. The ripple effect can go on
forever. We need to realize the "power" we have, and treat it with the
respect it deserves. (86 words)
05/01/2018 7:06 pm
1.This
essay talks about how you have to forge your own path. We must make the
road by walking it. This essay talks about how we are both architects
and prisoners of social life. It talks about how we need to break down
the walls that separate us and work to build a road that leads us
together and to better understanding. It talks about how we have to work
on ourselves first. We need to learn how to make mistakes and be ok
with making mistakes because if you aren’t and you don’t you are more
likely to give up. We need to appreciate the statues that we occupy. We
can’t be ashamed of who we are, we have to live and be proud of who and
what we are. The book talks about how we need to learn to sit in the
fire. We need to not only be allies but we need to find allies. We need
to come together with other people to stand up for each other. It talks
about how white men who are straight with no disabilities can be such
strong allies, because they are more likely to be heard, because he
doesn’t appear to be acting out of vested interest. (208)
2.
I learned so much from this course. What an amazing opportunity to get
to know so much about diversity. I am sure that this class could go on
for many more months and there would still be more to learn. I learned
that we need allies in the fight against oppression. I learned that
someone can occupy more than one status at a time. I learned all about
privilege and what that looks like. I learned just how privileged I am. I
also learned ways that I can use that to help those that aren’t as
privileged. I consider myself very lucky to be able to call myself
privileged and I want to do whatever I can to help those that aren’t
afforded the same luxuries as I am. I learned that a small way that I
can bring about social change is to call people out when the make a
sexist, racist, homophobic, or otherwise intolerant comment or joke. I
learned that I need to be patient with my time table. I have come to
realize through this course that the time table is very extended.
Nothing is going to happen overnight. I need to allow my small ripple in
this world to grow and maybe impact those around me in small ways. I
need to remember that just because I don’t see the change doesn’t mean
that the change isn’t happening. (233)
3.
To answer this the quote from the book seems most appropriate, “be an
ally; find allies; appreciate your allies. There is nothing complicated
about the idea of an ally: an ally is simply someone committed to
eliminated stigma and the ill-treatment of those in stigmatized
statuses.” This quote relates to what we can do to enhance human
understanding. We must find the people that are there to support each
other. We need to rise together to show each other that even if we are
different we all have similarities. We are all humans, we are all part
of humanity. We may have differences but we all deserve love, care,
compassion, and respect. In order to enhance understanding I can stand
up to those around me. I can call people out on inappropriate jokes. I
can make my voice be heard so that in the future people don’t have to
dry their tears wondering when they lost their voice. We must show one
another care and compassion, in small ways and large ways. I will
enhance understanding by educating my children on diversity. I have four
kids so I’m hoping that my tiny ripple creates a ripple in them which
extends to their families one day. Change doesn’t happen overnight. I am
willing to do my part even if I can’t see the change right now, with
the hopes that by the time my grandchildren are grown the world will be a
different place. (243)
05/06/2018 10:39 am
To begin Framework Essay 4 states the obvious fact that the contents of this book may seem overwhelming and overbearing to the reader. Framework essay 4 shows that all of these things such as race, sex, social class, sexuality and disability may make an individual feel powerless to stand up and make a difference. Rather this text was meant to teach and create an understanding and the possibility of alliances between the diversity of people. The importance highlighted by Framework essay 4 is to recognize the power of one’s own decisions and actions. The ability of one to have an impact on society and to make a difference is up to choice. Whether an individual is encouraged or discouraged to attempt to make a change or to make a difference. Unlike many sciences, social science allows people to be not only the ones trapped within but the ones looking in at the chaos of life. Furthermore within Framework essay 4 the section “We Make The Road By Walking” demonstrates its up to each individual to make their own path, there is not one already laid at their feet. There may be resources to help you along the way but there is no one who can dictate how you will go about using them or where you will ultimately go. In order to make a difference one must work on themselves first. The major aspects of self that can be highlighted are Increasing your tolerance for making mistakes, appreciate the statuses you occupy, learn to “sit in the fire” and be an ally and appreciate your allies. In order to challenge social constructions one must work on themselves. It is only human to make mistakes so being able to make mistakes and learn from them and build off of them instead of letting them tear you down. Next is to appreciate and understand the statuses we occupy and be able to be judged for it (sitting in the fire) this opens up our experience to understanding many perspectives of difference and finally to be an ally and to appreciate allies you may have. They may be your most powerful resource as well as being able to be one for others. These things come together to empower individuals to be able to make a difference and understand their capabilities. (387 words)
I learned from this course the true meaning of difference, as cheesy as it may sound it is true. To understand the master statuses that ultimately influence and dictate a large portion of our society and more than we may be aware of. Race, sex, social class, sexuality and disability all play a major role of who we are but also how we differ from one another. I learned how we construct categories based on these statuses. We learn to ask what is race, sex, social class and so on. Why are they an important aspect of society? The importance of how these are constructed goes on to be attributed to difference and how we can connect these differences. Furthermore we went on to learn how we experience difference. We see the presence of difference as constructed by society but never do we truly understand what it is to experience all difference. So through this text I was immersed into an opportunity to begin to understand from others perspectives what it means to experience difference. The two last aspects of this course which were to define difference and make connections between them is the most important part because it is the defining point of today's society, the one most miss or dismiss. We need to understand what difference means in order to make a change or to make a difference ourselves. (231 words)
What can we do to enhance human understanding? Where does one start to enhance human understanding is the better question. To begin enhancing human understanding we need to open the eyes and ears of all individuals to the opportunity of understanding and accepting difference, no matter what form it may come in. Going back to the master statuses, race, sex, social class, sexuality and disability they are all forms of difference that we either are aware of or are unaware of. However they are differences constructed by society where there may not need to be any, but insteads of trying to change the existence of these statuses we should learn to understand them and appreciate them. This is the first step in enhancing human understanding, appreciation. To continue this trend individuals should also look within, to themselves where they should also be aware of their own differences to what makes up their “self’. Being aware of yourself and others opens a whole new door to openness and acceptance just by trying to learn and understand such as we did in this course. This creates knowledge where otherwise stigmatization would develop in place of the gained knowledge. Lastly, to enhance human understanding we need to be able to keep an open mind so that we may always be willing and able to learn. To learn is to understand and to understand is to create acceptance and the opportunity or possibility of equality. (241 words)
05/08/2018 2:53 pm
Framework essay 4 has to do with what we can do to make a
difference in our world. After reading the last three essays and the
readings in between, I have been excited to see what change I can make
in the world around me. This essay has to do with the different ways we
can go about that. The author talks about making that first step to
making a change around us. By stepping out and working for what we want
and believe in, it will make a change even if we don’t see it right
away. We have to be willing to make mistakes and know that they are
going to happen often. We must also appreciate who we are and accept it.
Be proud of the person you are and have become. That will reflect in
the changes you make around you. I love that the author is pushing for
people to not be afraid to take a leap of faith and be the difference we
would like to see around us. It’s also important to make allies, even
if they don’t seem like the “ideal” person you would like. As the author
says, “that challenging the construction of difference is well within
all of our capabilities.” (210 word count)
What I learned from this course is that there is difference all around us, even if we can’t see it on the surface, it is usually there if we dig a little deeper. People are going to be different than us, we have to be able to accept it. I learned that there are different statuses that people occupy and those affect the way we see the world. The way we see the world will contradict with the way someone else sees it. I learned that differences in race and ethnicity weren’t that big of a deal way back then. People have not always been this way when it comes to looking at the statuses other people occupy. We are so quick to judge the way a person is because of the group that they belong to instead of looking at the person as the individual that they are. It is up to us to make that change that we want to see the world. We can’t just leave it up to other people. We must all work together to produce a change and impact in the world around us. Reading this book has really opened my eyes to see all the people that are around me and to praise their differences instead of looking down on them. (218 word count)
What I can do to enhance human understanding of diversity issues is to educate or inform them as best as I can based on what I know. You shouldn’t push your beliefs on someone so this can be tricky especially with certain types of people. I think it would be good to refer this book to people so they can see diversity issues that are going on around us. I can encourage my family and friends to help me make a difference in society. By helping out at different programs in my community, I can show to those around me that it’s not that hard to make a difference. I would support them to be proud of who they are, the background they came from, and who they are going to grow to be. It’s important to be supportive of those around us. It helps to show that we are one united front. We are not all going to agree on the same things but we shouldn’t let that stop us from expressing what we believe and trying to make that change in our society. I would encourage those who want to know more about this to take a class in this area. (203 word count)
What I learned from this course is that there is difference all around us, even if we can’t see it on the surface, it is usually there if we dig a little deeper. People are going to be different than us, we have to be able to accept it. I learned that there are different statuses that people occupy and those affect the way we see the world. The way we see the world will contradict with the way someone else sees it. I learned that differences in race and ethnicity weren’t that big of a deal way back then. People have not always been this way when it comes to looking at the statuses other people occupy. We are so quick to judge the way a person is because of the group that they belong to instead of looking at the person as the individual that they are. It is up to us to make that change that we want to see the world. We can’t just leave it up to other people. We must all work together to produce a change and impact in the world around us. Reading this book has really opened my eyes to see all the people that are around me and to praise their differences instead of looking down on them. (218 word count)
What I can do to enhance human understanding of diversity issues is to educate or inform them as best as I can based on what I know. You shouldn’t push your beliefs on someone so this can be tricky especially with certain types of people. I think it would be good to refer this book to people so they can see diversity issues that are going on around us. I can encourage my family and friends to help me make a difference in society. By helping out at different programs in my community, I can show to those around me that it’s not that hard to make a difference. I would support them to be proud of who they are, the background they came from, and who they are going to grow to be. It’s important to be supportive of those around us. It helps to show that we are one united front. We are not all going to agree on the same things but we shouldn’t let that stop us from expressing what we believe and trying to make that change in our society. I would encourage those who want to know more about this to take a class in this area. (203 word count)
05/09/2018 8:00 pm
I really liked how this essay summarized the book and everything
that we have learned. It talks about understanding the similarities
across groups and how experiences can help build to a big picture. We
could all experience the same thing, but because we are all different,
it effects us differently. We need to live our lives as positive as we
can. That way other people will see how positive you are, and they might
be influenced to do the same. First you have to work on yourself. There
are four main lessons to concentrate on. The first is to increase your
tolerance for making mistakes. "Realizing how little you know about
other peoples life experience is a way to prepare for the absolute
inevitability that, in trying to build connections across difference, you will make mistakes."
The second is appreciate the statuses you occupy."Appreciating your
status means not being ashamed of who you are." The third is is to learn
to "sit in the fire". "When you are the one who is angry, try not to
let it overwhelm you." This can be hard, but if you work at it, you can
learn to control your anger so it does not affect other people. And the
last lesson is be an ally, appreciate your allies. "There is nothing
complicated about the concept of an ally: an ally is simply someone
committed to eliminating stigma and the ill-treatment of those in
stigmatized statuses. (242 words)
I have learned so much about how I can change myself and be a role model for other people to want to change for the better. I have learned how privileged I am and how some people don't have that ability. It really makes you stop and think about what you have verses what your own friends do or don't have. Especially for people from long ago, how privileges were for certain race or culture. It has torn friendships apart and it makes me sad. I learned how to be patient and how to show people patience when they need it. I loved reading about how to social change people and making sure everyone, no matter what race, feel welcome. People think that this is a quick fix, that you can become happier just like that. But it takes time and hardship from people, it doesn't just come to them, they have to work for it. I know everyday I try my hardest to smile and be patient. Reading this book really opened my eyes to how people are treated and how to treat them better and how to improve this world to make everyone accept everyone. I really enjoyed reading this material as it will help me improve myself. (210 words)
Basically all you can do is share. Share as much as you can. Share what you have learned and share your positivity. You do have to watch what you say as you don't want to push your beliefs, like religion, on other people, but you can help influence them to be more positive. You need to show support for peoples different beliefs, but also encourage them to better themselves. You need to be supportive with everyone helping out whether it is a small help or a large help. Make sure you have an open mind about things and ensure that you surround yourself with positive people as well. Share that we are all human, we are bound to make mistakes, but there is always room for improvements. Share how much society and culture has changed from 100 years ago verses now. You need to be aware of yourself so others can see and possibly follow in your footsteps. Not everyone is going to agree on what you say, but you can still try and make a change to the society without offending anyone. I feel everyone should take a class like this in order to better understand each other and everyone. (201 words)
I have learned so much about how I can change myself and be a role model for other people to want to change for the better. I have learned how privileged I am and how some people don't have that ability. It really makes you stop and think about what you have verses what your own friends do or don't have. Especially for people from long ago, how privileges were for certain race or culture. It has torn friendships apart and it makes me sad. I learned how to be patient and how to show people patience when they need it. I loved reading about how to social change people and making sure everyone, no matter what race, feel welcome. People think that this is a quick fix, that you can become happier just like that. But it takes time and hardship from people, it doesn't just come to them, they have to work for it. I know everyday I try my hardest to smile and be patient. Reading this book really opened my eyes to how people are treated and how to treat them better and how to improve this world to make everyone accept everyone. I really enjoyed reading this material as it will help me improve myself. (210 words)
Basically all you can do is share. Share as much as you can. Share what you have learned and share your positivity. You do have to watch what you say as you don't want to push your beliefs, like religion, on other people, but you can help influence them to be more positive. You need to show support for peoples different beliefs, but also encourage them to better themselves. You need to be supportive with everyone helping out whether it is a small help or a large help. Make sure you have an open mind about things and ensure that you surround yourself with positive people as well. Share that we are all human, we are bound to make mistakes, but there is always room for improvements. Share how much society and culture has changed from 100 years ago verses now. You need to be aware of yourself so others can see and possibly follow in your footsteps. Not everyone is going to agree on what you say, but you can still try and make a change to the society without offending anyone. I feel everyone should take a class like this in order to better understand each other and everyone. (201 words)
Summary of Framework Essay
This Framework Essay begin by talking about how, as students, we may feel powerless to create change after all of the readings and information about the “master status” and overwhelming social forces. They in fact created this text book to teach students how to open up new possibilities for understanding and creating alliances that can create change. In the writings of Spanish poet Antonio Machado’s adaptation of a proverb: “se hace camino al andar,” or “you make the way as you go,” “We Make the Road by Walking” talks about how change begins by doing things that no one has done before. If you follow down the path that someone else has created, then you are not challenging the status quo. To help in the process of creating your own path the text gives 4 ways to work on yourself. By doing this it will better help you to challenge social constructs and begin the change process. The first is to increase your tolerance for making mistakes. There is no doubt, you will make them. Use it as a learning process and take that to your next decision but don’t give up. Second is to appreciate the status you occupy. By accepting who you are and not being ashamed of it you will be better able to respond with more clarity to others’ experiences of their statuses. Third is learn to sit in the fire. Everyone feels some sort of guilt about their status, their advice is to not give in to it. The book states, “The benefits of diversity derive from engagement, not passive observation. Interaction about difference will inevitably entail periods of disagreement and conflict.” The last thing is be an ally, appreciate your allies. This statement is pretty simple. Remembering a time when you were treated unfairly about something can help you understand how others feel when it happens to them. (word count 314)
What I have learned from this course.
During this course I have learned about the different types of statuses and how big of a role they have played during our history. I knew the basics of how things came to be like slavery and the progression for rights for those who were slaves. Women’s right and how far they have come was a bit of a surprise and the fact that they had been considered as a sort of sub category for so long. It is hard to think that we have come so far because we live such a short life compared to how long it takes change to happen. I remember the quote, “You can’t change the world overnight.” This was said by many people and it is right on point. What you can do is begin that change and inspire other to make changes. It was also interesting to learn how the master statuses use laws and courts to keep themselves on top. Over time the interpretation of those laws has changed because they didn’t think that some races would ever be or have the influence they have now. I never realized how easy it was to look at the way things are now and think that it has always been that way. I know change happens all of the time but to see it laid out on a time line and see how long some things took to change was an eye opener. I think the biggest lesson I got out of this class is that you can’t change the world until you accept who you are and set the example of what you think things should be like. (word count 276)
What can I do to enhance human understanding?
I think the first thing I can do is to shed any preconceptions of what the social classes should be or how they should act. We get into the thinking that the poor are poor because they are lazy, and they do not have the motivation to better themselves. Although in some cases this may be true we need to go into every situation with an open mind. Prejudging an individual on where they come from or what they look like is the mind set of the past and we have come so far that it would be unwise to start taking steps back. In my job I meet a lot of different people from all walks of life. I am not perfect and at times I will see someone and think to myself “what have I gotten into.” But I try to shake that off and go in with an open mind and simply have a conversation with the individual. Through all of this I am see one thing emerge that I don’t think was such an issue before. We as a people need to get back into taking responsibility for our own actions. If I could lead one change, that would be the one. We are the product of our own decisions and if we are not
This Framework Essay begin by talking about how, as students, we may feel powerless to create change after all of the readings and information about the “master status” and overwhelming social forces. They in fact created this text book to teach students how to open up new possibilities for understanding and creating alliances that can create change. In the writings of Spanish poet Antonio Machado’s adaptation of a proverb: “se hace camino al andar,” or “you make the way as you go,” “We Make the Road by Walking” talks about how change begins by doing things that no one has done before. If you follow down the path that someone else has created, then you are not challenging the status quo. To help in the process of creating your own path the text gives 4 ways to work on yourself. By doing this it will better help you to challenge social constructs and begin the change process. The first is to increase your tolerance for making mistakes. There is no doubt, you will make them. Use it as a learning process and take that to your next decision but don’t give up. Second is to appreciate the status you occupy. By accepting who you are and not being ashamed of it you will be better able to respond with more clarity to others’ experiences of their statuses. Third is learn to sit in the fire. Everyone feels some sort of guilt about their status, their advice is to not give in to it. The book states, “The benefits of diversity derive from engagement, not passive observation. Interaction about difference will inevitably entail periods of disagreement and conflict.” The last thing is be an ally, appreciate your allies. This statement is pretty simple. Remembering a time when you were treated unfairly about something can help you understand how others feel when it happens to them. (word count 314)
What I have learned from this course.
During this course I have learned about the different types of statuses and how big of a role they have played during our history. I knew the basics of how things came to be like slavery and the progression for rights for those who were slaves. Women’s right and how far they have come was a bit of a surprise and the fact that they had been considered as a sort of sub category for so long. It is hard to think that we have come so far because we live such a short life compared to how long it takes change to happen. I remember the quote, “You can’t change the world overnight.” This was said by many people and it is right on point. What you can do is begin that change and inspire other to make changes. It was also interesting to learn how the master statuses use laws and courts to keep themselves on top. Over time the interpretation of those laws has changed because they didn’t think that some races would ever be or have the influence they have now. I never realized how easy it was to look at the way things are now and think that it has always been that way. I know change happens all of the time but to see it laid out on a time line and see how long some things took to change was an eye opener. I think the biggest lesson I got out of this class is that you can’t change the world until you accept who you are and set the example of what you think things should be like. (word count 276)
What can I do to enhance human understanding?
I think the first thing I can do is to shed any preconceptions of what the social classes should be or how they should act. We get into the thinking that the poor are poor because they are lazy, and they do not have the motivation to better themselves. Although in some cases this may be true we need to go into every situation with an open mind. Prejudging an individual on where they come from or what they look like is the mind set of the past and we have come so far that it would be unwise to start taking steps back. In my job I meet a lot of different people from all walks of life. I am not perfect and at times I will see someone and think to myself “what have I gotten into.” But I try to shake that off and go in with an open mind and simply have a conversation with the individual. Through all of this I am see one thing emerge that I don’t think was such an issue before. We as a people need to get back into taking responsibility for our own actions. If I could lead one change, that would be the one. We are the product of our own decisions and if we are not
05/10/2018 6:41 pm
(Summarize FE4)-
This framework essay is essentially summing up the entire book so far. It starts off by covering the meaning behind why the authors wrote this book, it was to shine a light on the less privileged in our country and society. They wanted to make the reader adopt a new mindset on the inequality regarding race/sex and disability’s in our current society. When writing the book, they all shared their personal experiences with stigmas, inequalities, and racial profiling in their past experiences. One of the best quotes of this framework comes from Gandhi. He says “nothing that we do as individual’s matters, but its vitally important that we do it anyways”. This is based off of the fact that to have change in a society, people need to get rid of the mindset that society can’t be changed by just them. With this mindset, nothing will get changed. Another good topic this framework touches on, is that you should appreciate whatever status you occupy. You can’t change who you are, so you have to make the best of whatever situation you are in. If you are unhappy with the results of being in this group, speak up, make change and try to fix the issues you see. Overall, this essay sums up the main topics of the book, and shows us the main issues in our society today. (WC:228)
(What I learned from Class)-
In the period that I was enrolled in the Diversity Studies class I learned many topics and facts that I would not have known without this class. It really opened up my eyes into the inequality that many people of color, different race and genders face every day in our society. Our society has many issues that cause these people issues on a daily basis. We as a society need to come together to change these issues. This class also was very helpful due to the fact I’m going into Law Enforcement as a career. In that career, you have to be totally unchanged by someone’s race, ethnicity or gender. This can cause major issues if you racially profile, or treat people differently based off of who they are. All of the frameworks in this book really helped me better understand what happens to some people in our country, and how to avoid doing that in the future. Overall, this class has really changed my viewpoints on discrimination in our country by providing real world example showing exactly how our country needs to change. It has been extremely helpful. I would keep doing what you are doing in this course, it was very well put together, and helped me a lot. (WC:211)
(What can be done to enhance human understanding of Diversity Studies)-
I think the understanding of diversity studies in our country is at a low point currently. Not many people (including me before this course) have any idea about diversity issues in our country. People who aren’t in the situation of minority, very rarely understand what other go through on a daily basis. I think more books like this need to be put out to enhance the visibility of this issue. Also, more shows, interviews and personal accounts could be made to better show the issue in our country. The average white person in the US will never know the things that a black person has to go through that they never will. Typically, if you tell a white person this they will deny it because they are not aware of the situation, implementing things such as what I stated, would help give this problem more of a spotlight, and hopefully diminish it in our country. It’s a big issue, so I thinks teps like this should and need to be take, to greatly improve the quality of life in our country for minorities, people of color and women. By doing this, our community would become better, relationships between races would increase, and it would just change our country for the better. (WC:214)
This framework essay is essentially summing up the entire book so far. It starts off by covering the meaning behind why the authors wrote this book, it was to shine a light on the less privileged in our country and society. They wanted to make the reader adopt a new mindset on the inequality regarding race/sex and disability’s in our current society. When writing the book, they all shared their personal experiences with stigmas, inequalities, and racial profiling in their past experiences. One of the best quotes of this framework comes from Gandhi. He says “nothing that we do as individual’s matters, but its vitally important that we do it anyways”. This is based off of the fact that to have change in a society, people need to get rid of the mindset that society can’t be changed by just them. With this mindset, nothing will get changed. Another good topic this framework touches on, is that you should appreciate whatever status you occupy. You can’t change who you are, so you have to make the best of whatever situation you are in. If you are unhappy with the results of being in this group, speak up, make change and try to fix the issues you see. Overall, this essay sums up the main topics of the book, and shows us the main issues in our society today. (WC:228)
(What I learned from Class)-
In the period that I was enrolled in the Diversity Studies class I learned many topics and facts that I would not have known without this class. It really opened up my eyes into the inequality that many people of color, different race and genders face every day in our society. Our society has many issues that cause these people issues on a daily basis. We as a society need to come together to change these issues. This class also was very helpful due to the fact I’m going into Law Enforcement as a career. In that career, you have to be totally unchanged by someone’s race, ethnicity or gender. This can cause major issues if you racially profile, or treat people differently based off of who they are. All of the frameworks in this book really helped me better understand what happens to some people in our country, and how to avoid doing that in the future. Overall, this class has really changed my viewpoints on discrimination in our country by providing real world example showing exactly how our country needs to change. It has been extremely helpful. I would keep doing what you are doing in this course, it was very well put together, and helped me a lot. (WC:211)
(What can be done to enhance human understanding of Diversity Studies)-
I think the understanding of diversity studies in our country is at a low point currently. Not many people (including me before this course) have any idea about diversity issues in our country. People who aren’t in the situation of minority, very rarely understand what other go through on a daily basis. I think more books like this need to be put out to enhance the visibility of this issue. Also, more shows, interviews and personal accounts could be made to better show the issue in our country. The average white person in the US will never know the things that a black person has to go through that they never will. Typically, if you tell a white person this they will deny it because they are not aware of the situation, implementing things such as what I stated, would help give this problem more of a spotlight, and hopefully diminish it in our country. It’s a big issue, so I thinks teps like this should and need to be take, to greatly improve the quality of life in our country for minorities, people of color and women. By doing this, our community would become better, relationships between races would increase, and it would just change our country for the better. (WC:214)
05/10/2018 8:11 pm
As I read through framework essay four, I notice that it is about
people making the path that they take in life. They use the quote “you
make the way as you go”. That to me means that as we go through life,
the things that we do shape the direction that we go. I also notice that
it talks about working on yourself first and do this by increasing your
tolerance for making mistakes, basically saying that everyone makes
mistakes and don’t make yourself feel bad when you make them. Another
way is to appreciate the statuses you occupy, saying to be proud of
yourself for what you are doing. Another way is to learn to “sit on the
fire”, this means that we need to bridge differences when it comes to
people and things that we do in life. We are all different people and do
different things. Some people need to “sit on the fire” in order to
bridge these differences. The last way is to be and ally, and appreciate
your allies, it states that this is the most important out of the four.
This is basically saying to appreciate how people treat you and treat
other people the way you want to be treated. (209 words)
As I reflect on the class and all that I have learned. I would say that the biggest thing that I have learned throughout the course would be to treat everyone as the same person. People are different, but weather is it by race, gender, sexuality, social class or disability, we are all really the same. I think that this as a whole stood out to me most because I work with children everyday all day and there are many different races in the room and I see that children are not sexist. There are parents that come in and make comments to me and it makes me feel super uncomfortable. I understand that people are different and have different views on people, but after this course, I have really begun to understand how much people are different and how much people are all the same. I feel that more people need to be aware of this so that there is less racism and sexism in the world. I also learned that one people cannot make a difference and make a change, but it can sure help if one people has the drive to start something and get other people involved so that a change can happen for the better. Overall, this course has taught me a ton and I really enjoyed it. (225 words)
I feel that I could help to enhance human understanding when it comes to diversity issues by helping to educate more people about the differences we have from other diversities. I was raised up in a household that taught me that knowledge is power. The more knowledge that you have on something, the smarter you are about it and the better your opinions are. If more people are educated about the differences that people have, I feel that people would be more excepting because they would understand the differences and also the similarities at a more in-depth level. If people are educated about the differences that people have, they might realize that a lot of people have similarities to each other even if they do not stand out as much. You have to learn about someone before you can judge or have an opinion about them. (148 words)
As I reflect on the class and all that I have learned. I would say that the biggest thing that I have learned throughout the course would be to treat everyone as the same person. People are different, but weather is it by race, gender, sexuality, social class or disability, we are all really the same. I think that this as a whole stood out to me most because I work with children everyday all day and there are many different races in the room and I see that children are not sexist. There are parents that come in and make comments to me and it makes me feel super uncomfortable. I understand that people are different and have different views on people, but after this course, I have really begun to understand how much people are different and how much people are all the same. I feel that more people need to be aware of this so that there is less racism and sexism in the world. I also learned that one people cannot make a difference and make a change, but it can sure help if one people has the drive to start something and get other people involved so that a change can happen for the better. Overall, this course has taught me a ton and I really enjoyed it. (225 words)
I feel that I could help to enhance human understanding when it comes to diversity issues by helping to educate more people about the differences we have from other diversities. I was raised up in a household that taught me that knowledge is power. The more knowledge that you have on something, the smarter you are about it and the better your opinions are. If more people are educated about the differences that people have, I feel that people would be more excepting because they would understand the differences and also the similarities at a more in-depth level. If people are educated about the differences that people have, they might realize that a lot of people have similarities to each other even if they do not stand out as much. You have to learn about someone before you can judge or have an opinion about them. (148 words)
05/11/2018 9:43 am
Summary of FE4:
This last essay seemed to be a summary of the whole pieces in the textbook. It discusses how even though we are all different, we experience the same situations but in different ways. It also talks about what we can do in society to make a difference in society. Even though the change we need to pursue won’t happen in our lifetime, it will be the first step to change our world. The author seems to make this a big point because they don’t want you to be afraid. Mistakes are going to happen, everyone makes mistakes every day. Even people around us make mistakes. The way to do this is mostly how you react to making these mistakes. It is important to be positive and accept mistakes. Being positive and reacting respectively and calmly makes yourself more approachable to others. The author used the phrase “learn to sit on the fire”. This phrase is for when you are the one who is mad. It means that you need to forgive and let go of something that is overwhelming. Change needs to happen with more than one person. Reacting this way would allow allies to form; allies are needed to make a bigger change. This needs to be done even if they aren’t the person you would choose to begin with. Appreciate yourself and your allies.
Word Count: 226
What I learned by taking Intro to Diversity Studies:
I was surprised by how much I didn’t understand what was going on in our society. I realized that there was an issue regarding race, but I didn’t know how bad it actually was. It made me see that I had adopted these common stigmas in society to think certain ways. After taking this course, I am going to be more aware of how I communicate with other sexes, races, and religions. I need to be the one to stand up and share my information that I learned from this course with others. Especially those who seem to not understand why it is not okay to say what him/her is saying to others. Sharing my information with others would help in fighting societies problems because there would be allies. Even though I can’t fight a lot of issues in society by myself, it’s a change that needs to be started. Before I started this course, I knew that people were different due to his/her outer image, but I finally can see what is going on in society to make me think that they are different. It’s the stigmas and other problems in society that made me think this. I need to make a difference.
Word count: 204
What can I do to enhance human understanding?:
One way I will enhance human understanding is to use knowledge from this course. I will continue to share my knowledge from this course and be understanding of other people’s beliefs or opinions. This idea will not spark conflict, rather, it will start a discussion. Today, we constantly undergo disagreements, however, it is the way that we handle these conversations that truly matter. We need to be able to understand each other’s differences. This shall be done not by saying what’s wrong with the other person, but rather accepting what is different between us. The stigmas in our society need to be broken. Just because one person has a certain characteristic, doesn’t mean that all individuals of that same religion, sex, or gender has the same characteristic. People can say that they are diverse, but it’s a matter of doing rather than just saying. Don’t assume and don’t “judge a book by its’ cover”. It is important to meet new people with an open mind, rather than a closed mind. There are always ways to improve how you see the world. Be able to adapt to new surroundings and be open to changes. These ways and much more help to enhance human understanding.
Word count: 203
This last essay seemed to be a summary of the whole pieces in the textbook. It discusses how even though we are all different, we experience the same situations but in different ways. It also talks about what we can do in society to make a difference in society. Even though the change we need to pursue won’t happen in our lifetime, it will be the first step to change our world. The author seems to make this a big point because they don’t want you to be afraid. Mistakes are going to happen, everyone makes mistakes every day. Even people around us make mistakes. The way to do this is mostly how you react to making these mistakes. It is important to be positive and accept mistakes. Being positive and reacting respectively and calmly makes yourself more approachable to others. The author used the phrase “learn to sit on the fire”. This phrase is for when you are the one who is mad. It means that you need to forgive and let go of something that is overwhelming. Change needs to happen with more than one person. Reacting this way would allow allies to form; allies are needed to make a bigger change. This needs to be done even if they aren’t the person you would choose to begin with. Appreciate yourself and your allies.
Word Count: 226
What I learned by taking Intro to Diversity Studies:
I was surprised by how much I didn’t understand what was going on in our society. I realized that there was an issue regarding race, but I didn’t know how bad it actually was. It made me see that I had adopted these common stigmas in society to think certain ways. After taking this course, I am going to be more aware of how I communicate with other sexes, races, and religions. I need to be the one to stand up and share my information that I learned from this course with others. Especially those who seem to not understand why it is not okay to say what him/her is saying to others. Sharing my information with others would help in fighting societies problems because there would be allies. Even though I can’t fight a lot of issues in society by myself, it’s a change that needs to be started. Before I started this course, I knew that people were different due to his/her outer image, but I finally can see what is going on in society to make me think that they are different. It’s the stigmas and other problems in society that made me think this. I need to make a difference.
Word count: 204
What can I do to enhance human understanding?:
One way I will enhance human understanding is to use knowledge from this course. I will continue to share my knowledge from this course and be understanding of other people’s beliefs or opinions. This idea will not spark conflict, rather, it will start a discussion. Today, we constantly undergo disagreements, however, it is the way that we handle these conversations that truly matter. We need to be able to understand each other’s differences. This shall be done not by saying what’s wrong with the other person, but rather accepting what is different between us. The stigmas in our society need to be broken. Just because one person has a certain characteristic, doesn’t mean that all individuals of that same religion, sex, or gender has the same characteristic. People can say that they are diverse, but it’s a matter of doing rather than just saying. Don’t assume and don’t “judge a book by its’ cover”. It is important to meet new people with an open mind, rather than a closed mind. There are always ways to improve how you see the world. Be able to adapt to new surroundings and be open to changes. These ways and much more help to enhance human understanding.
Word count: 203
05/12/2018 10:00 pm
Framework Essay 4 did a great job at tying everything we learned
from essays 1-3 together and giving us the tools to make a difference.
It explains how a book like "Making a difference that focuses on
understanding than doing can leave people feeling powerless to challenge
the constructions of difference. When in reality by understanding the
different master classes, and all the different stigmas we are able to
use our knowledge and understanding to become an ally for others in
stigmatized groups, and sometimes that means joining together as a group
to invoke change, which may mean we have to tell people what we need
them to do.
This essay also explains how we may not be able to change everything but we can change somethings. Now that we are educated on the different race, gender, stigmas, master classes, ethnicity, and sexuality, it leaves us with a better understanding of others and also ourselves, and instead of us being ashamed of our differences this is our chance to embrace our differences in a positive light and be proud of what we see. These master classes were made by humans which means we have the power to change them, by the way we choose to get involved to stop oppression. (211 words)
I have learned a lot from taking this class a lot more than I thought I would in the beginning. I never realized how little I knew about the differences in race ethnicity and diversity. I have learned that we all have prejudice thoughts whether they are conscious or not, but what is important is what we choose to do to eliminate these false stigmas. I learned that race referred to the color of your skin but not necessarily what you identified as. When I thought of discrimination I thought of age, race, ethnicity, gender, and social class but I never took in to thought that disability would fall in there as well.
I learned that Native Americans weren't seen as citizens of the United States in the beginning which I felt was so strange since they were in America first. The constitution gives us the right to sue, and after reading all the supreme court cases it showed me how something as simple of standing up for your rights, and the rights of others even though it may not be instantaneous can provoke change. Instead of being ashamed of our differences we should proudly embrace them. Stigmas will not completely disappear in our lifetime because it is a long process but we can initiate change. (215 words)
What I can do to enhance human understanding is to continue to educate myself and others on our differences, which will hopefully spark discussions rather than conflict to help people eliminate their preconceived notions. I hope to stand in my own power and to appreciate my differences instead of being ashamed of them and help others do the same. I think owning and being proud of who we are is the first step to ending stigmas. I plan to be allies for people who need it and I won't be afraid to except allies as well.
I will be open minded when I meet new people and not judge them by race, ethnicity, sexuality or social class or the stigmas related. I will not judge a person based on physical appearance, or economic standings but try to enter every conversation with an open mind and an open heart. I will not stand on the sidelines and be neither the problem or the solution. I will teach my children to not laugh at racial jokes ,and to stand up for people who may not have a voice, and teach them that they can make a difference by setting an example for others by choosing a new path.(208 words)
This essay also explains how we may not be able to change everything but we can change somethings. Now that we are educated on the different race, gender, stigmas, master classes, ethnicity, and sexuality, it leaves us with a better understanding of others and also ourselves, and instead of us being ashamed of our differences this is our chance to embrace our differences in a positive light and be proud of what we see. These master classes were made by humans which means we have the power to change them, by the way we choose to get involved to stop oppression. (211 words)
I have learned a lot from taking this class a lot more than I thought I would in the beginning. I never realized how little I knew about the differences in race ethnicity and diversity. I have learned that we all have prejudice thoughts whether they are conscious or not, but what is important is what we choose to do to eliminate these false stigmas. I learned that race referred to the color of your skin but not necessarily what you identified as. When I thought of discrimination I thought of age, race, ethnicity, gender, and social class but I never took in to thought that disability would fall in there as well.
I learned that Native Americans weren't seen as citizens of the United States in the beginning which I felt was so strange since they were in America first. The constitution gives us the right to sue, and after reading all the supreme court cases it showed me how something as simple of standing up for your rights, and the rights of others even though it may not be instantaneous can provoke change. Instead of being ashamed of our differences we should proudly embrace them. Stigmas will not completely disappear in our lifetime because it is a long process but we can initiate change. (215 words)
What I can do to enhance human understanding is to continue to educate myself and others on our differences, which will hopefully spark discussions rather than conflict to help people eliminate their preconceived notions. I hope to stand in my own power and to appreciate my differences instead of being ashamed of them and help others do the same. I think owning and being proud of who we are is the first step to ending stigmas. I plan to be allies for people who need it and I won't be afraid to except allies as well.
I will be open minded when I meet new people and not judge them by race, ethnicity, sexuality or social class or the stigmas related. I will not judge a person based on physical appearance, or economic standings but try to enter every conversation with an open mind and an open heart. I will not stand on the sidelines and be neither the problem or the solution. I will teach my children to not laugh at racial jokes ,and to stand up for people who may not have a voice, and teach them that they can make a difference by setting an example for others by choosing a new path.(208 words)
05/13/2018 12:08 pm
Summary of FE4:
This last Framework Essay is a summary of everything we have learned or discussed throughout the whole book. It also brings together the whole idea of the meaning of difference which is that we are all different but we still experience the same things. The author then discusses how we can make a difference in our society and how that starts by changing things around ourselves first. We have to be okay to make mistakes in our lives and understand that we aren't always going to be perfect. In the book it even italicised the phrase ".., you will make mistakes." which in my opinion is very powerful and shows you that understanding that is the first step to change. Then the next step to making a difference is to appreciate the statuses we occupy. Which means we have to learn to be okay with the fact that were either stigmatized or privileged.The final step is to learn to "sit in the fire" meaning that whether you are privileged or stigmatized don't let your emotions run your life. This essay then ends by saying that they started this essay worried their readers felt powerless but hope that now at the end you have hope and feel empowered. (WC: 207)
What I have learned:
I have learned a lot while taking this class and I feel as if I now have a new and better way to look at life. I had always known about discrimination and privilege but I never really knew what it was all about until I took this class and got to learn more and more about those kinds of things along with other key concepts from this book. This class has helped me with see how I view certain aspects in life and how I can change what I do on a daily basis to make society equal for all. I also got to learn more about court cases which I find is super cool. I never knew how many court cases there are on just discrimination. That really opened my eyes to how much injustice there was in the world before I was born and how much is still present. I've also learned that trying to change things in society takes longer than just a couple years. I now know that if I want change I need to start now and I have to be okay with not seeing the change in my lifetime. I always use to quit things when I couldn't see the end result but if everyone did that change would never happen. I think that is one of the most important things I have learned in this class. (WC: 234)
Enhance Human Understanding:
I can start by talking to my friends and telling them about all the information I have learned about in this class. I will share with them that we cant keep judging people by their skin color or their social status and that we need to get to know them before we jump to conclusions. I will also become more open to meeting new people and learning about new cultures or sexualities. Recently a rapper (Childish Gambino) has come out with a music video that shows discrimination and prejudice within America. The song is called 'This is America' and it is supposed to help people understand what minorities go through everyday. I think that can also be a way I and others can help enhance human understanding. By bringing this into the view of my peers on social media and in person I and singers, actors, even those in our daily life can help enhance the understanding by putting it into a way everyone can understand and relate to. I also can help teach people about the three steps we learned in Framework Essay 4 about working on yourself. I can teach them that being okay with mistakes, appreciating our statuses and learning to 'sit in the fire' can help us become okay with our differences. (WC: 216)
This last Framework Essay is a summary of everything we have learned or discussed throughout the whole book. It also brings together the whole idea of the meaning of difference which is that we are all different but we still experience the same things. The author then discusses how we can make a difference in our society and how that starts by changing things around ourselves first. We have to be okay to make mistakes in our lives and understand that we aren't always going to be perfect. In the book it even italicised the phrase ".., you will make mistakes." which in my opinion is very powerful and shows you that understanding that is the first step to change. Then the next step to making a difference is to appreciate the statuses we occupy. Which means we have to learn to be okay with the fact that were either stigmatized or privileged.The final step is to learn to "sit in the fire" meaning that whether you are privileged or stigmatized don't let your emotions run your life. This essay then ends by saying that they started this essay worried their readers felt powerless but hope that now at the end you have hope and feel empowered. (WC: 207)
What I have learned:
I have learned a lot while taking this class and I feel as if I now have a new and better way to look at life. I had always known about discrimination and privilege but I never really knew what it was all about until I took this class and got to learn more and more about those kinds of things along with other key concepts from this book. This class has helped me with see how I view certain aspects in life and how I can change what I do on a daily basis to make society equal for all. I also got to learn more about court cases which I find is super cool. I never knew how many court cases there are on just discrimination. That really opened my eyes to how much injustice there was in the world before I was born and how much is still present. I've also learned that trying to change things in society takes longer than just a couple years. I now know that if I want change I need to start now and I have to be okay with not seeing the change in my lifetime. I always use to quit things when I couldn't see the end result but if everyone did that change would never happen. I think that is one of the most important things I have learned in this class. (WC: 234)
Enhance Human Understanding:
I can start by talking to my friends and telling them about all the information I have learned about in this class. I will share with them that we cant keep judging people by their skin color or their social status and that we need to get to know them before we jump to conclusions. I will also become more open to meeting new people and learning about new cultures or sexualities. Recently a rapper (Childish Gambino) has come out with a music video that shows discrimination and prejudice within America. The song is called 'This is America' and it is supposed to help people understand what minorities go through everyday. I think that can also be a way I and others can help enhance human understanding. By bringing this into the view of my peers on social media and in person I and singers, actors, even those in our daily life can help enhance the understanding by putting it into a way everyone can understand and relate to. I also can help teach people about the three steps we learned in Framework Essay 4 about working on yourself. I can teach them that being okay with mistakes, appreciating our statuses and learning to 'sit in the fire' can help us become okay with our differences. (WC: 216)
05/13/2018 12:51 pm
Modify Date: 05/13/18 12:54pm
Modify Date: 05/13/18 12:54pm
In this framework essay we learn about what to do next now that
we have a better understanding of what it means to be stigmatized or
privileged and how biases and prejudices are formed. One of the
concerns expressed by the authors of our text The Meaning of Difference was
that the reader would be left with an overwhelming sense of
powerlessness. Good instruction or guidance can be found in a dialogue
between educator activists Myles Horton and Paulo Freire titled, You Make the Road by Walking. This
essentially means that although attitudes, biases and prejudices have
become implicit to our society the outcomes to follow do not need to be
inevitable. As evidenced through both their individual lives and their
published dialogue, education is a powerful means by which to foster
social change. The process is not an easy one. It is full of many
starts and stops, good intensions and mistakes. However, we must keep
walking and increase a tolerance for mistakes as they are inevitable.
Also, it is necessary to appreciate your own status, whether it is
privileged or stigmatized. Do not be ashamed of who you are. Instead
used your status to promote understanding, tolerance while bridging
differences among all people. Reflecting on one’s status will likely
evoke many intense emotions such as anger or guilt. Making this new
road and walking it will require one to sit in these emotions and feel
them but not be consumed by them. Being consumed by guilt or anger does
nothing to make positive lasing changes which bridge gaps and bring
people together, instead we must come together, seek out allies,
appreciate them and be an ally yourself. Finding others who are also
working to eliminate stigmas is critical because the task cannot be
completed alone. (297)
There was much that I learned in this course. First, I learned that prejudices and biases stemming differences have no scientific basis. There is no biology that suggests the differences among people necessitate one group having power or privilege over another. Yes, we are different, but this does not mean that one group is better than another. Historically many of the subjugation of groups was made for economic gain and not because those groups were inherently insignificant. This is something I assumed to already know. However, many of the biases and prejudices have become so ingrained in our society that most people are unaware they too have them. This leads me to the second thing I learned from this course. I learned that biases and prejudices, though many times overt can also be subtle and unconscious. There is much implicit bias in the way we think in our culture. I too am guilty of it. I’m afraid that I would probably not do well on the Implicit Awareness Test or IAT. However, having this information guides me towards intentionality in my daily life. This leads me to the last and most important thing I learned in this course. That is that outcomes are not inevitable no matter how ingrained attitudes are within our society. With intentional living changes can be made which counter the separation of people. Intentional living can bring people together. (233)
Perhaps the biggest thing I can do to enhance human understanding related to diversity is to live my day to day life through thought and intentionality. Now that I am aware of my own implicit biases and prejudices I can make efforts to counter those biases and prejudices as I go about my day interacting with other people seeing them for who they really are and not through the lens some preconceived ignorant idea that has no basis in truth. It will not be easy. It will take effort. It will require me to stop and reflect often. I will make many starts and stops. I will make mistakes. I will make the road as I go. If I make changes in my own life I will be better able to make changes the lives of others, changes for the better.(255)
There was much that I learned in this course. First, I learned that prejudices and biases stemming differences have no scientific basis. There is no biology that suggests the differences among people necessitate one group having power or privilege over another. Yes, we are different, but this does not mean that one group is better than another. Historically many of the subjugation of groups was made for economic gain and not because those groups were inherently insignificant. This is something I assumed to already know. However, many of the biases and prejudices have become so ingrained in our society that most people are unaware they too have them. This leads me to the second thing I learned from this course. I learned that biases and prejudices, though many times overt can also be subtle and unconscious. There is much implicit bias in the way we think in our culture. I too am guilty of it. I’m afraid that I would probably not do well on the Implicit Awareness Test or IAT. However, having this information guides me towards intentionality in my daily life. This leads me to the last and most important thing I learned in this course. That is that outcomes are not inevitable no matter how ingrained attitudes are within our society. With intentional living changes can be made which counter the separation of people. Intentional living can bring people together. (233)
Perhaps the biggest thing I can do to enhance human understanding related to diversity is to live my day to day life through thought and intentionality. Now that I am aware of my own implicit biases and prejudices I can make efforts to counter those biases and prejudices as I go about my day interacting with other people seeing them for who they really are and not through the lens some preconceived ignorant idea that has no basis in truth. It will not be easy. It will take effort. It will require me to stop and reflect often. I will make many starts and stops. I will make mistakes. I will make the road as I go. If I make changes in my own life I will be better able to make changes the lives of others, changes for the better.(255)
05/13/2018 12:52 pm
The final essay really summed up The Meaning of Difference. It
explains how we can make a difference and bring about social-change. We
first need to work on ourselves before we can do this so we don’t feel
powerless or hopelessly insignificant in the face of social forces. We
can make changes by educating ourselves and those around us to accept
things as right even though we are taught not to think it is right. We
do have the ability to make change and make a difference in this world,
but we can’t just step back and assume others are going to make a
change. We may not see it right away, but it can happen. In the section
of Essay 4 where it talks about We Make the Road by Walking, it explains
how we have to make our own path because there isn’t one laid out for
us. We have to accept ourselves and increase our tolerance for making
mistakes, appreciate the statuses we occupy, learn to “sit in the fire”,
and be an ally. Appreciate your allies. We can learn from our attempts
if we fail but we can not let that bring us down. We need to be thankful
for the statuses we occupy as individuals because there are people out
there who aren’t as privileged as us. As the book states, “benefits of
diversity derive from engagement, not passive observation. Interaction
about difference will inevitably entail periods of disagreement and
conflict.” We can learn about being an ally by asking people what would
be helpful and also by educating yourself about stigmatized groups. All
of this comes together so that us as individuals can make a difference
in this world. (282 words)
What I have learned from this course is that difference comes in all forms and that there is more than we may think or see. But we need to be accepting of these differences and realize that not every person is going to be the same. We as humans can be quick to judge a person by the outside on what they wear, how they talk, or how they look before we even get to know them personally. Just because the outside looks different doesn’t mean they are any different from us on the inside. We easily stigmatize groups and are quick to judge a person by their race, color, or sexual orientation because of what we are taught as we are in this world. We are so easily influenced by the media and expect that someone not as the same race as us can be dangerous or we should stay away from but really, they are not dangerous. This book has opened my eyes in a way that we all need to work together to make a change in this world, so that we are all accepting of one another and can see past the ugly that we have learned to see. We can’t keep looking at the differences in a bad way but to accept and appreciate them. (220 words)
What I can do to help enhance human understanding is to educate or inform people as best as I can from what I have learned over this course or have already known. Nothing will change if we don’t stand up and inform others. If we lay low and don’t try to make a difference than no one else around us will either. We obviously can’t push beliefs onto someone or make them change if they don’t want to. But we as people who are around each other need to educate one another about the differences we see in this world. We need to see how differences are not a bad thing and how we all are the same on the inside but aren’t always viewed that way. We are so quick to judge, and others need to be informed how we need to look passed what we are taught to believe but to truly have our own opinion and view on it. We need to work on ourselves before we can begin by making a difference in this world, because if you don’t figure out your true self and what change you want to see, than you aren’t going to know what path you want to create. (207 words)
What I have learned from this course is that difference comes in all forms and that there is more than we may think or see. But we need to be accepting of these differences and realize that not every person is going to be the same. We as humans can be quick to judge a person by the outside on what they wear, how they talk, or how they look before we even get to know them personally. Just because the outside looks different doesn’t mean they are any different from us on the inside. We easily stigmatize groups and are quick to judge a person by their race, color, or sexual orientation because of what we are taught as we are in this world. We are so easily influenced by the media and expect that someone not as the same race as us can be dangerous or we should stay away from but really, they are not dangerous. This book has opened my eyes in a way that we all need to work together to make a change in this world, so that we are all accepting of one another and can see past the ugly that we have learned to see. We can’t keep looking at the differences in a bad way but to accept and appreciate them. (220 words)
What I can do to help enhance human understanding is to educate or inform people as best as I can from what I have learned over this course or have already known. Nothing will change if we don’t stand up and inform others. If we lay low and don’t try to make a difference than no one else around us will either. We obviously can’t push beliefs onto someone or make them change if they don’t want to. But we as people who are around each other need to educate one another about the differences we see in this world. We need to see how differences are not a bad thing and how we all are the same on the inside but aren’t always viewed that way. We are so quick to judge, and others need to be informed how we need to look passed what we are taught to believe but to truly have our own opinion and view on it. We need to work on ourselves before we can begin by making a difference in this world, because if you don’t figure out your true self and what change you want to see, than you aren’t going to know what path you want to create. (207 words)
05/13/2018 1:18 pm
Framework Essay 4
Summary (200+ words)
This chapter of the book is a bit of a summary of what we have went over this year. One of the big main things this chapter talks about is how you don’t think you can change social events but to challenge yourself and try the 4 steps. The four steps are:
Increase your tolerance for making mistakes
Appreciate the statuses you occupy
Learn to sit in the fire
Be an ally. Appreciate your allies
All of these steps work together in bettering yourself. In a sum they are all talking about how you need to forgive others there is no point in holding onto grudges. Also, to learn from your mistakes it’s going to happen to everyone and there is nothing you can do to avoid it from happening. Another thing this chapter talks about is how “We Make the Road by Walking” which is based off a poets writing. This is saying that no matter who or what social class you are from it shouldn’t matter you can make your own history and future. Just like everyone else has done in the past and everyone to come will do, we all need to start somewhere and starting in the present is the only way to move forward. (209 words)
What I learned (200+ words)
This class has taught me a lot over the semester. I have learned that you shouldn’t judge people based on who they are or even their social class because you never know what someone has went through to get where they are. You also have to take into consideration how people want to be perceived as now you can’t assume just because someone came from nothing doesn’t mean they can’t make a different future for themselves and work to achieve more. I have also learned that there are many different types of people in the world and many different variations, whether it’s from how you look at life and either think everything’s going to happen anyways and I can’t make a change or if you’re the opposite and think I can make a difference and without me trying to do something nothing is going to change. I have learned from this course is that we need to be able to accept diversity in all of its forms no matter what, and that making a difference will always count. This class has also taught me that everyone is unique and special in their own way and if we all work together to support each other’s differences we could make an impact on our society. (213 words)
What can I do to enhance human understanding related to diversity issues (200+ words)
One thing that I can do to enhance human understanding is to educate others about all the differences among our society as a whole and to work together to make a bigger impact than working by ourselves. We can also be open to everyone’s differences and be more accepting of others. If we are willing to work with everyone and support them it will make a greater difference on society for the greater good. I can also work on showing appreciation of everyone’s differences and help support their different cultures. Another thing I can do is to be respectful to other people no matter who they are or where they come from. I could be an advocate for people that are afraid to stand out and use their voice to speak their opinions, I would also make sure people are aware of the things they say because it could be offensive to a person around and make them feel bad before you even get the chance to make it up to them. The last thing I can do is to educate the people around me in giving them more knowledge to understand all the differences in people and teaching them that no two people are the same in our society so treat everyone how you want to be treated. (219 words)
Summary (200+ words)
This chapter of the book is a bit of a summary of what we have went over this year. One of the big main things this chapter talks about is how you don’t think you can change social events but to challenge yourself and try the 4 steps. The four steps are:
Increase your tolerance for making mistakes
Appreciate the statuses you occupy
Learn to sit in the fire
Be an ally. Appreciate your allies
All of these steps work together in bettering yourself. In a sum they are all talking about how you need to forgive others there is no point in holding onto grudges. Also, to learn from your mistakes it’s going to happen to everyone and there is nothing you can do to avoid it from happening. Another thing this chapter talks about is how “We Make the Road by Walking” which is based off a poets writing. This is saying that no matter who or what social class you are from it shouldn’t matter you can make your own history and future. Just like everyone else has done in the past and everyone to come will do, we all need to start somewhere and starting in the present is the only way to move forward. (209 words)
What I learned (200+ words)
This class has taught me a lot over the semester. I have learned that you shouldn’t judge people based on who they are or even their social class because you never know what someone has went through to get where they are. You also have to take into consideration how people want to be perceived as now you can’t assume just because someone came from nothing doesn’t mean they can’t make a different future for themselves and work to achieve more. I have also learned that there are many different types of people in the world and many different variations, whether it’s from how you look at life and either think everything’s going to happen anyways and I can’t make a change or if you’re the opposite and think I can make a difference and without me trying to do something nothing is going to change. I have learned from this course is that we need to be able to accept diversity in all of its forms no matter what, and that making a difference will always count. This class has also taught me that everyone is unique and special in their own way and if we all work together to support each other’s differences we could make an impact on our society. (213 words)
What can I do to enhance human understanding related to diversity issues (200+ words)
One thing that I can do to enhance human understanding is to educate others about all the differences among our society as a whole and to work together to make a bigger impact than working by ourselves. We can also be open to everyone’s differences and be more accepting of others. If we are willing to work with everyone and support them it will make a greater difference on society for the greater good. I can also work on showing appreciation of everyone’s differences and help support their different cultures. Another thing I can do is to be respectful to other people no matter who they are or where they come from. I could be an advocate for people that are afraid to stand out and use their voice to speak their opinions, I would also make sure people are aware of the things they say because it could be offensive to a person around and make them feel bad before you even get the chance to make it up to them. The last thing I can do is to educate the people around me in giving them more knowledge to understand all the differences in people and teaching them that no two people are the same in our society so treat everyone how you want to be treated. (219 words)
05/13/2018 1:56 pm
Framework Essay four touches on several important topics. It reads very similar to the classic novel “The Art of War”. I say this because it basically repeats Sun Tzu’s teaching of avoid what is strong, strike what is weak. The author of this essay says to avoid name calling and making others feel guilty and have and show a human heart. The author even admits that this may be difficult to, even suggesting for us to “sit” in our anger until we can think with our hearts. This helps us to avoid what is strong, their arrogance, and strike what is weak, their deepest sense of human connection.
The author also talks about “The benefits of diversity derive from engagement, not passive observation”. What the author means by this is there are some very strong allies that you can make in life, with straight white men being the strongest, and how we need to stop fearing diversity. We can have our close friends and allies to get or stay where we want to be in life, but it’s also important to have diversity. We cannot learn about others from simply by observing them. That would be like a doctor diagnosing a problem with a patient without ever having met them. (210)
I learned a lot from this course and it would be impossible for me to share all of the very valuable lessons that I have learned from this class. However, I believe the most important thing that I learned was how everyone has some type of a diversity issue to work on. We all need to start seeing everyone as an individual and not as a collective group. For me, my discrimination has little to with skin color or gender, but physical appearance. In high school I suspected that my principal only got his job by looking like a principal. He wasn’t bright in general, didn’t actively use what he learned in college about child with special needs, is a terrible public speaker, and has the personality of blank sheet of paper. This may be a little bit of an overused statement, but I’ve met rocks kinder and smarter than him.
Eventually, I began to realise that people who look the part and carry themselves as the part are more likely to have power positions even though they are not qualified at all for the job. I have never met a short, introverted, brown skinned, female in a leadership role and quite honestly before I took this class I would have hired the straight white male over her even if she was more qualified. I have come to realise that this is discrimination and is something I need to become actively aware of. (243)
There are a multitude of things that we can all do the enhance understanding issues related to diversity. An educational institution can make mandatory diversity classes a requirement for graduation. Not only at the college level but from primary through secondary school. It’s much easier to change our ways at a younger age than when your older and more stuck in your ways. However, a single class enrollment at a local community college for the scholar or life long learner in your life might be a good option for them.
For the school aged children teachers could promote diversity in the classroom by pairing up more diverse groups and having the students engage in activities about privilege and diversity. This could help them start building a diverse groups of friends early on so that it won't be harder to start later on in life.
Another thing that you can do is encourage your friends to meet and hang out with a group of people or another couple that look differently from you. However, is there is a major lifestyle or economic gap between you and them that could potentially create major problems. It’s best to start small and take baby steps towards leading a more diversified life. (206)
05/13/2018 5:07 pm
This framework essay is about not being left with the feeling
that you can not make an impact on social change. Just because we may
start at a certain place in life does not mean that we can not change or
challenge that place. Education is key to understanding the differences
between statuses and classes of people. Also realizing that just
because you may be of a certain status or class does not mean that your
experiences have not been different then the “norm”. You, like everyone
else, are an individual and your experiences will have a big influence
over your viewpoint, so remember to take that in to account when you are
dealing with other people. We can also use our experiences to become
allies to those who need an ally. Be aware of where you are, “work on
yourself first” and be prepared to make mistakes. Also “appreciate the
status that you occupy”, it can have a major impact on your life and the
more you are aware of how you and your status affects others, the more
you can impact social change. Do not feel guilty about things that
others in your status have done but learn what they did so that you are
not distorting historical fact and taking away from others experience.
(217 words)
The biggest thing for me in this course was learning about privilege. It was a hard pill to swallow when you are being told that you are privileged. I did not consider myself privileged, I didn’t understand what that meant. From my perspective I have had to work my butt off to get where I am at today, I started with very little, others can do the same. While this is true that others can work hard and achieve a lot, I did not realize how different their challenges where or how much their lack of privileges affected their starting point in life. I was raised in an area with very little diversity and did not see the challenges that others have had to face because of their different classes or statuses. I also didn’t realize my privileges because of this lack of diversity. The main differences between myself and those around me was financially, and I was on the lower income side, so from my viewpoint I was the underprivileged. So, the fact that from other points of view I am privileged, was an eye opener. Also, that certain things about me automatically give me privilege, such as being white. Because of the lack of diversity growing up I had very little firsthand experience with racial issues or the challenges that others face just because they are not white. Privilege is something that I will need to continue to educate myself on. (243 words)
I think one of the biggest things I can do to enhance human understanding related to diversity is to educate myself on diversity. Then make sure to really understand what it means to live in a world filled with diversity. Celebrate differences and acknowledge other perspectives on the world. Learn from other’s experiences and share my own experiences. Give people the opportunity to show me who they are as a person and not what their status or class says about them. Poor does not mean uneducated or lazy. Appreciate where I am and who I am and allow others to do the same. Help others by becoming an ally, help to change the perspective other people have about other “groups” of people. Do not just sit idly by when I hear others judging others based on race, sex, color, religion, or disabilities. (142 words)
The biggest thing for me in this course was learning about privilege. It was a hard pill to swallow when you are being told that you are privileged. I did not consider myself privileged, I didn’t understand what that meant. From my perspective I have had to work my butt off to get where I am at today, I started with very little, others can do the same. While this is true that others can work hard and achieve a lot, I did not realize how different their challenges where or how much their lack of privileges affected their starting point in life. I was raised in an area with very little diversity and did not see the challenges that others have had to face because of their different classes or statuses. I also didn’t realize my privileges because of this lack of diversity. The main differences between myself and those around me was financially, and I was on the lower income side, so from my viewpoint I was the underprivileged. So, the fact that from other points of view I am privileged, was an eye opener. Also, that certain things about me automatically give me privilege, such as being white. Because of the lack of diversity growing up I had very little firsthand experience with racial issues or the challenges that others face just because they are not white. Privilege is something that I will need to continue to educate myself on. (243 words)
I think one of the biggest things I can do to enhance human understanding related to diversity is to educate myself on diversity. Then make sure to really understand what it means to live in a world filled with diversity. Celebrate differences and acknowledge other perspectives on the world. Learn from other’s experiences and share my own experiences. Give people the opportunity to show me who they are as a person and not what their status or class says about them. Poor does not mean uneducated or lazy. Appreciate where I am and who I am and allow others to do the same. Help others by becoming an ally, help to change the perspective other people have about other “groups” of people. Do not just sit idly by when I hear others judging others based on race, sex, color, religion, or disabilities. (142 words)
05/13/2018 8:37 pm
Summary of Framework Essay 4:
When reading this chapter, I realized that it's pretty much just forgive in life and move on. This essay wanted you to know that you aren't supposed to feel like you can't do anything to benefit the world by the end of it. Just that it's hard to make a big enough difference for anything to change. This chapter had a lot of summarizing. but it was all important information. The most important ideas were the four steps:
1) Increase your tolerance for making mistakes
2) Appreciate the statuses you occupy
3) Learn to sit in the fire
4) Be an ally
This basically just means that you can't get ahead in life if you hold grudges and hate. You need to forgive and forget. To make a difference at all you need to move forward and keep moving forward without looking back. You can't get anywhere in life if your negative about everything. If the world if happy and at agreement, that's when you can make a difference. I think this chapter was about being happy with what you have and making the best out of every situation. I feel like that's a good way to go though life. Everything's free that way. (204 words)
What I Learned in this Course:
This course was defiantly worth the time. It teaches you about race, ethnicity, class, difference, acceptance, and so many other things. This course thought me how to look at things in a better way. That stereotyping is something that everyone does, but doesn't always admit it. I didn't think that I was someone to judge others so quick, but a little part of me thinks "this person looks safe, this ones professional. and this ones dangerous." I think that everyone thinks these things even though they don't know the other persons situation. People are so quick to judge others. I know I judge, and that so many others do the same. Some people even act upon there thoughts and cause harm or conflict with others.
This course taught me about the differences in everyone's lives. This is things like how different cultures, races, genders, and classes do things differently. That some cultures think some things are okay, and the culture next to them thinks it's completely inappropriate. This course had so many points and objectives and hit so many soft spots with people, most of all how people can be so cruel and unfair. This course taught me the meaning of difference. (207 words)
What I can to enhance Human Understanding:
I think the best thing that I or anyone else can do to help understand diversity is to be educated about it. Teaching myself and others could help everyone. Diversity isn't just about the color of peoples skin. It's about discrimination, race, ethnicity, culture, gender, sexuality, and the way people are treated. This is also about harassment and judgment. People are too quick to judge and hate on others, the best thing for people to understand diversity is to teach them just that.
Everyone should be educated about how their actions and thoughts affect others and the life quality around them. I personally think that one person at a time can make a difference in the world. One person today knowing about diversity and another tomorrow can make a difference. I think we need to take steps to seriously teaching people the things that they really need to know vs. what they don't. Diversity is one of those things that everyone should learn about. Even if it just makes a difference in your community, that's a difference that could make life better, healthier and happier. People need to be educated about diversity with gender, race, class, and disability. Education is the key to the future. (205 words)
When reading this chapter, I realized that it's pretty much just forgive in life and move on. This essay wanted you to know that you aren't supposed to feel like you can't do anything to benefit the world by the end of it. Just that it's hard to make a big enough difference for anything to change. This chapter had a lot of summarizing. but it was all important information. The most important ideas were the four steps:
1) Increase your tolerance for making mistakes
2) Appreciate the statuses you occupy
3) Learn to sit in the fire
4) Be an ally
This basically just means that you can't get ahead in life if you hold grudges and hate. You need to forgive and forget. To make a difference at all you need to move forward and keep moving forward without looking back. You can't get anywhere in life if your negative about everything. If the world if happy and at agreement, that's when you can make a difference. I think this chapter was about being happy with what you have and making the best out of every situation. I feel like that's a good way to go though life. Everything's free that way. (204 words)
What I Learned in this Course:
This course was defiantly worth the time. It teaches you about race, ethnicity, class, difference, acceptance, and so many other things. This course thought me how to look at things in a better way. That stereotyping is something that everyone does, but doesn't always admit it. I didn't think that I was someone to judge others so quick, but a little part of me thinks "this person looks safe, this ones professional. and this ones dangerous." I think that everyone thinks these things even though they don't know the other persons situation. People are so quick to judge others. I know I judge, and that so many others do the same. Some people even act upon there thoughts and cause harm or conflict with others.
This course taught me about the differences in everyone's lives. This is things like how different cultures, races, genders, and classes do things differently. That some cultures think some things are okay, and the culture next to them thinks it's completely inappropriate. This course had so many points and objectives and hit so many soft spots with people, most of all how people can be so cruel and unfair. This course taught me the meaning of difference. (207 words)
What I can to enhance Human Understanding:
I think the best thing that I or anyone else can do to help understand diversity is to be educated about it. Teaching myself and others could help everyone. Diversity isn't just about the color of peoples skin. It's about discrimination, race, ethnicity, culture, gender, sexuality, and the way people are treated. This is also about harassment and judgment. People are too quick to judge and hate on others, the best thing for people to understand diversity is to teach them just that.
Everyone should be educated about how their actions and thoughts affect others and the life quality around them. I personally think that one person at a time can make a difference in the world. One person today knowing about diversity and another tomorrow can make a difference. I think we need to take steps to seriously teaching people the things that they really need to know vs. what they don't. Diversity is one of those things that everyone should learn about. Even if it just makes a difference in your community, that's a difference that could make life better, healthier and happier. People need to be educated about diversity with gender, race, class, and disability. Education is the key to the future. (205 words)
05/13/2018 8:41 pm
Modify Date: 05/13/18 8:50pm
Modify Date: 05/13/18 8:50pm
FE4 Summary
Framework essay 4 starts by talking about
how this book was not put together to make people feel powerless about
social injustice. The goal was to look at race, sex, social class,
disability, and sexuality all together to gain a deeper understanding
and to hopefully create alliances. It talks about how this class induces
a different kind of thinking than most college courses. “Learning
changes us, and higher education is explicit in its intention to produce
that effect.” Page 483 Relating societies effects to the Roman god
Janus, we both make society and are victim to it. They then reiterate
Gandhi’s words from Reading 56 that nothing we do individually matters,
but it’s important. The authors then give some suggestions on what we
can do with what we have grown to understand through this book. The
first is to “Make the road by walking”. This little mantra tells us that
we are the best people to know when and what we should do, and that the
road to where we are going has not already been built. They then give
an example of President Barack Obama “Making the road by walking” in
Chicago years ago with the emergency medical care in a poor black
community. The second way is to work on yourself first. They give many
ways in which you can do this including: increasing your tolerance for
making mistakes (get used to making mistakes), appreciate the statuses
you occupy (reclaim pride in ourselves), learn to sit in the fire
(embrace and try to understand emotional situations), and be an ally (do
the right thing, speak up, speak out, be BOLD). (272 words)
What did I learn in this class?
I learned a lot about myself actually. I
never really understood the concept of privilege and honestly mostly
thought that it was just a “snowflake concept”. I really appreciated the
format of this class and did most of my reading by listening to my text
on my way to and from work but sometimes I had to, or wanted to, go
back and read things again to fully process them. The Supreme Court
cases were very interesting to me and I feel like they went into depth
on a different level than what I learned about in history. Honestly that
was a pretty good theme for everything that I learned in this class.
The concepts were not really new, but I hadn’t looked at them from this
perspective, or didn’t understand them on such a deep level before. I
came to the realization that I need to check myself in certain
situations. Just because I would never make a racist joke, doesn’t mean
that I wouldn’t still laugh along with one because I felt like it was
funny and harmless. I learned how these behaviors perpetuate stigmas. I
also learned the difference between prejudice and discrimination. I
still think that the most impactful thing that I read in this whole
class was in reading #56 with Gandhi talking about the tree. I’ve
honestly been feeling defeated for most of my adult life about making a
difference and I feel like my deeper understanding of different
categories and my realization that while I won’t change the world, I
will make an impact has given me new hope. (253 words)
What can I do?
Not much, and everything at the same time. I
often avoided speaking out in situations where I felt uncomfortable
with discriminatory language for fear of looking like I thought that I
was better than people. I understand now that even if that does happen I
really can make a positive impact and I can become an ally. I would
like to say that I never had a prejudiced bone in my body but that
wouldn’t be true. There were certain attitudes that I developed when I
was young that I did correct as soon as I realized them but I also
realize that there may still be some subconscious bias in me. If I ever
do notice any behaviors like that in myself I know that I can correct
them. If I notice those behaviors or attitudes in other people I will do
my best to show them how disturbing what they’re saying actually is. I
tend to give people the excuse that “they were raised that way” but I’m
at an age where I don’t think that is valid anymore. People grow and
change all the time and it’s on them, not their parents, to dictate how
they’re going to treat other people. I will strive to be a safe haven
for anyone struggling in the face of discrimination or prejudice from
others or even themselves. (226 words)
05/13/2018 9:17 pm
This reading is about change and what individuals can do to change the world we are in today. While some after reading through this book may be discouraged this is meant to encourage. This framework encourages that one person can make different and encourages understanding of the social inequalities and discrimination. Education is one of the most important things we can do to change. Education teaches us that our rights and our history. Which increases our openness to other’s experiences in life. We learn from each other when we are open to hearing others life experiences and stories. The first thing we must do to make a difference work on ourselves. If we are unwilling to change that will not change the inequalities in our society. We also must be able to except that we will make mistakes and we must not give up or be discouraged. We must learn from our mistakes and keep trying. We also must be okay with who we are in society. We have to be comfortable with our privileges and our stigmatizations. If you are privileged you than you must stand up and be an ally for those in the stigmatized statues and stay strong for the ill-treatment of others.
Word count 206
From this course I learned many different things. I have never put too much thought in to diversity. I grew up in a different country for my childhood and then moved to the states. I feel like that has made me naive to the discrimination and stigmatization people experience. I never realized how much of how our society function is based on privilege and statute. This course helped me to understand that we all experience different stigmatizations and privileges no matter who we are. This course has given me a better understanding of others experiences and how we need to be open to other differences from these experiences. This course has given me a great understanding of how important it is to stand up for the rights of others and that one person can make a difference. We need to never take for granted the things that we have as there is always some who has less and is unable to stand up for themselves. There is no quick fix to the problems we face in our society; however, if we all do our part to make a different change will come. We all can make a difference in our own way.
Word count 203
To enhance human understanding of diversity we need to listen and be open to others experiences. We also need to be willing to share our own experiences. If everyone began to listen to each other and share their stories than more people would begin to stand up for the injustice. We need to always be willing to stand up for those who can’t stand for themselves. If we all walk away from this class with the understanding that we can make a difference we have already started to make our communities a better place. We increase human understanding of how diverse we are by breaking the social norms and being willing to stand against the inequalities in our daily lives. Like the books say use education to increase the openness of people by sharing what you have learned from this course.
Word Count 141
05/08/2018 10:14 am
As I read Framework Essay 4 It appeared to me that it was mainly
about how we felt reading this book. How can we change the world?
Education seems to be the source of much social change. Educational
institutions teach us our rights and, our history, sharpen our thinking
and decision-making and open us to others' lived experiences. I believe
that learning about the history of things like this changes us. "We make
the road by walking" was made by a poet "Antonino Mchado". Also the
title of a published dialogue between two famous educator activists,
Myles Horton and Paulo Freire. Myles Horton and Faulio Freire's lives
provide power of education to produce social change. "We make the road
by walking" helps us remember that we are the best person to know which
social interventions will work for us. Learning who we are, finding and
honoring ourselves, recognizing that it is multifaceted, complex, and
evolving and then making sure the social change methods we are using are
consistent with yourself. "We make the road by walking" is a road that
hasn't been built. You will not find a recipe book designed for you and
all you will face. This framwork essay explains how it is important for
us to recognize that we will need to be our own resources and that we
will never have exactly the answers we need. An example was Obama's
experience. There are many steps to work on yourself first. Increasing
your tolerance for making mistakes as we must learn from our mistakes no
matter if they are good, bad, ugly to just get used to your mistakes.
Appreciating the statuses we occupy, which include honoring, valuing,
and having reasonable level of comfort of being your own skin color.
Whether you are female, male, wealthy, poor, middle class, straight or
bisexual. Learning to "sit in the fire" Guilt seems to be the most
common reaction to discussions of prejudice and discrimination. There is
a lot of emotion and experiences to those emotions. When you are angry
it explains to try and not let it overwhelm you. Being an ally and
appreciating our allies in which an ally is someone committed to
eliminating stigma and ill-treatment of those in stigmatized statuses.
You can join with others in collective action, social movements
historically have transformed the status of stigmatized groups in
America, such as the women's movement and civil rights movement. Making a
social change and what you can do to help (Word Count: 417)
I can enhance human understand by simply communication. Communication is key. Clear and easy to follow information to help one understand something they might know. Clarity of what people have been accountable for and that everyone needs to be treated equally. I know before this class and before reading these essays I had no idea about some of the things that have/been happening or simply the history and definitions about quite a few things, In just this 8 week course I learned a lot. Recognizing people as individuals and not stereotypes. Respect, compassion and education to others could help enhance human understanding to diversity issues. Starting with myself and what I could do to make a social change, starting with just letting others know what I have learned and some of the issues there are out there that they might not know about or haven't heard about. If there are people out there that didn't know some of the things we just learned they wouldn't know how bad diversity can be and that is when we don't have any change. From either people who do not know history or that might simply not want to do anything about it. It starts with us! (Word Count: 203)
I can enhance human understand by simply communication. Communication is key. Clear and easy to follow information to help one understand something they might know. Clarity of what people have been accountable for and that everyone needs to be treated equally. I know before this class and before reading these essays I had no idea about some of the things that have/been happening or simply the history and definitions about quite a few things, In just this 8 week course I learned a lot. Recognizing people as individuals and not stereotypes. Respect, compassion and education to others could help enhance human understanding to diversity issues. Starting with myself and what I could do to make a social change, starting with just letting others know what I have learned and some of the issues there are out there that they might not know about or haven't heard about. If there are people out there that didn't know some of the things we just learned they wouldn't know how bad diversity can be and that is when we don't have any change. From either people who do not know history or that might simply not want to do anything about it. It starts with us! (Word Count: 203)
05/09/2018 4:53 pm
Intro to Diversity
Framework IV Summary
Framework four discussed bridging differences. We all have differences and it doesn’t make us good or bad compared to another. Some are black and some are white, some are rich and some are poor, some have an education and some do not. We are all part of this thing called life, and we all must live with one another and get along. No matter what our backgrounds, we need to treat one another with respect and equality. We don’t have the power to change everything, but we can change some things. Like Gandhi said, “Nothing we do as individuals matters, but that it’s vitally important to do it anyway.” Making a difference in social change can start within ourselves.
When we take the road by walking it means that we are taking a road that hasn’t been traveled yet. There isn’t a recipe for life and how to succeed at it. We are responsible for ourselves and we have to be the best person to make a change. We can’t be the person we “think” we should be, or society tells us to be. In order to make a difference and change the way society’s stereotypes are, we need to stop the chain with ourselves. We will never have all the answers, but we need to use our own resources to figure out how we can make a difference starting with us. In the example about Myles Horton’s experience with the strike committee he stuck up for himself and didn’t want to tell them what to do. Even though they threatened to kill him, he did what he thought was right for himself. He didn’t let others influence his decision.
Allowing yourself to make mistakes and not giving up will help you become a stronger person. It will allow you to say what you think instead of being afraid of being wrong. If you are always afraid of saying the wrong thing then you tend to not say anything at all. Even when you know you are right or when you want to stick up for someone. You need to make the change and start speaking. Just get used to making mistakes, because we all do, but learning from them along the way will make us better.
Appreciate yourself and what you stand for. Don’t be ashamed of who you are. Society has us so concerned over who we are and how we look that we forget to be ourselves. Maybe we are not proud of a certain characteristic of ourselves. Is that because society has told us we shouldn’t be? Reclaiming our pride in our identities entails knowing who we are and what we stand for.
Being an ally is one of the most rewarding things you can do as a human being. Be that someone that commits to eliminating stigma and ill-treatment of those in stigmatized statuses. Be an ally, find allies, and appreciate your allies. These people are the ones that will stand up for someone that is being bullied, having racist remarks towards them, or not being included. Being an ally is something that can be done individually, or in joining with others to take action. Being an ally is valuable to anyone. When you see someone sitting alone at lunch, join them or ask them to join you. Making a difference in a person’s life will be a rewarding experience. Knowing you are making a change in bridging differences.
The change can start with you. Start by changing the way you think when you are around your friends. Don’t just go along with what the majority are doing or saying. If you feel the need to speak up then do so. Be strong and do what’s right. Be an ally; make a difference.
Word count: 634
Better Understanding of Diversity
Word count: 300
05/10/2018 3:03 pm
Our last framework essays, goal was to make sure that they aren’t
leaving their readers powerless, but inspiring them to create social
change. It’s fact that people inherit traits and actions from others, so
we want to set a good example for others. To be able to do this we need
to know who we are and what our beliefs are.
The book lays out four lessons for us to better understand and work on ourselves. The first lesson was to “increase your tolerance for mistakes”, which was my favorite one because I tend to be hard on myself with mistakes. They tell us that we need to be more tolerant so we don’t give up on ourselves, and if we are too busy dwelling on the mistake we will miss opportunities. Every experience is something to learn from, good, bad, and average, which will help us grow as people. Everyone makes mistakes, there’s no way around it, but we have to get over them. The second lesson is to “appreciate the statuses you occupy.” This means being proud of who you are and what statuses you hold, this will help you to communicated with people of other statuses. Away to increase your knowledge is to learn about your pass ancestors and see the bad they have done, and the good. Thirdly, was to “learn how to sit on fire”. Those who do have a privileged status tend to feel guilt of their status. Sometimes they allow their guilt to over power and take over the conversation. Then there is emotion on both sides which can be overwhelming. Instead of being too emotional and feeling guilty, try to be more understanding and just listening. When someone you are talking to is angry, just listen, and try to understand and don’t let your thoughts get in the way of listening. Lastly, “be an ally, appreciate your allies.” This eliminates stigmas, allows people with the same ideas to join together collectively. Sometimes the best way to do this is to ask for help to get allies.
(344-word count)
What I can do enhance human understanding related to diversity issues, I will start by simply not giving into the peer pressure of inappropriate jokes, and make it awkward for those telling the joke, so next time they will choose the correct pathway to not tell the insulting joke. I will work on not creating categories of people or stereotyping people by appearance. Something I’ve always unintentionally done is proving people with strong dichotomizing thoughts of gender roles wrong with my actions. I will encourage others to not “pass” as someone they aren’t. I will try to confront any discrimination I encounter, either in the workplace, or everyday encounters, trying to put an end to it. I am working on myself like the last framework essay instructed us to do, trying to tolerate mistakes, appreciating my statuses, learning how to react with my emotions aside, and being and making allies. It’s important to understand that we may not people to see the change we are trying to make, but as a group we are making change, but maybe our kids will see the change. Collectively we cannot feel powerless, we need to rise above and promote social change, together as a whole.
(202- word count)
The book lays out four lessons for us to better understand and work on ourselves. The first lesson was to “increase your tolerance for mistakes”, which was my favorite one because I tend to be hard on myself with mistakes. They tell us that we need to be more tolerant so we don’t give up on ourselves, and if we are too busy dwelling on the mistake we will miss opportunities. Every experience is something to learn from, good, bad, and average, which will help us grow as people. Everyone makes mistakes, there’s no way around it, but we have to get over them. The second lesson is to “appreciate the statuses you occupy.” This means being proud of who you are and what statuses you hold, this will help you to communicated with people of other statuses. Away to increase your knowledge is to learn about your pass ancestors and see the bad they have done, and the good. Thirdly, was to “learn how to sit on fire”. Those who do have a privileged status tend to feel guilt of their status. Sometimes they allow their guilt to over power and take over the conversation. Then there is emotion on both sides which can be overwhelming. Instead of being too emotional and feeling guilty, try to be more understanding and just listening. When someone you are talking to is angry, just listen, and try to understand and don’t let your thoughts get in the way of listening. Lastly, “be an ally, appreciate your allies.” This eliminates stigmas, allows people with the same ideas to join together collectively. Sometimes the best way to do this is to ask for help to get allies.
(344-word count)
What I can do enhance human understanding related to diversity issues, I will start by simply not giving into the peer pressure of inappropriate jokes, and make it awkward for those telling the joke, so next time they will choose the correct pathway to not tell the insulting joke. I will work on not creating categories of people or stereotyping people by appearance. Something I’ve always unintentionally done is proving people with strong dichotomizing thoughts of gender roles wrong with my actions. I will encourage others to not “pass” as someone they aren’t. I will try to confront any discrimination I encounter, either in the workplace, or everyday encounters, trying to put an end to it. I am working on myself like the last framework essay instructed us to do, trying to tolerate mistakes, appreciating my statuses, learning how to react with my emotions aside, and being and making allies. It’s important to understand that we may not people to see the change we are trying to make, but as a group we are making change, but maybe our kids will see the change. Collectively we cannot feel powerless, we need to rise above and promote social change, together as a whole.
(202- word count)
Framework Essay Summary
Framework essay four talks about bridging differences. Reading this
book leaves me to feel like there is little I can do to challenge the
constructions of difference in everything, from personal identity to
world events, which was not the point of this book. Rather, the point of
this was to help us look at race, sex, social class, sexuality, and
disability all together, which in return would open opportunities for
understanding and creating alliances. People can be different but still
have had the same experience in the same way that people who never had
the experience might still have ways to understand it. That is what the
writers wanted to happen. They wanted people to understand each other,
but it might not always work out like that, especially in higher
education.The emphasis in higher education is more on “understanding” than “doing.” Most coursework stresses detached, value-neutral reasoning, not passionate advocacy for social change. This is odd considering that education is the source of much social change. Learning changes us and high education is an important aspect of that. High education can empower and dis-empower us, and the decision is entirely up to the individual. We will take the information and pick whether we feel discouraged or inspired; no one else but you can choose how you feel.
There is nothing more fundamental to social change than learning who you are. One of the important aspects of this class that I really got into was acknowledging and honoring who I am, although I am complex and evolving. We make the road by walking implies the road isn’t built yet, which makes it up to us to build it. “Although there are many helpful resources, you will not find a recipe book designed for all the situations you will face.” This just means that you can’t always prepare for everything and even if you could, you might not want to know how you’ll resolve them. It can be more beneficial to figure things out on the way. Word count: 336
Enhancing Human Understanding
One of the most honorable mentions when explaining diversity is the
fact that we have it at all. Can you imagine a life where everyone was
the same class? Gender? Race? We are not cookie-cutter shaped people.
It’s basically impractical. We need to be very thankful for the variety
we have.Mentioning variety, I would like to bring up to the individual how exactly oppression would work if the person was oppressed. For example, if I was talking to a white male, I might try to explain the perspective of if white people were oppressed and black people were stereo-typically superior. Sometimes an individual may not understand how oppression works unless it is directed against them.
When it comes down to it, the world is so vast and incredible. It’s honestly a miracle that we’re alive as it is. The universe is crazy huge and we’re all very small and insignificant. If we could get along and try to figure out why we’re here, that would be ideal. We need to stop fighting against each other for these things. No one in the world is considered either “normal” nor “perfect.” If neither can be achieved, we might as well be happy with who we are and try to support and encourage those around us. Life is too short to hate each other. Word count: 226
05/13/2018 2:11 pm
The last framework essay “Bridging Differences” talked about what
got this book started, which is the energy it got from realizing how
readily people could generalize from their own personal experience of
stigma and privilege to what others experienced. Then it talks about
solutions to the issues in this book as it relates back to Gandhi
talking about the relationship between individuals and society. They
then go on to talk about how “the road is made by walking” and “you make
the way as you go”. They hope to make the reader realize that YOU are
the best person to know which “social intervention” is right for you,
because you will learn who you are. It talks about how education shapes
kids and how each kid should be able to be educated the same way but end
up as different individuals. They also explained that “the road is made
by walking” also conveys that the road isn’t already built. You aren’t
already expected to do something, and you don’t know what you are
supposed to do. Because you make your own road. You need to be your own
resources sometimes, and you don’t need a definite answer for everything
because you learn different things as you try them. I think the point
of this last framework essay was to not only wrap up how we see the
differences in this world, but to help us understand that they can and
should be more positive differences. It does a great job of telling the
reader how they can help by starting with themselves. The four ways to
start by working on yourself are increasing your tolerance for making
mistakes, appreciating the statuses you occupy, learning to “sit in the
fire”, and being an ally and to appreciate our allies. They close the
essay hoping that the reader now understands that challenging
constructions of difference is well within al our capabilities. (word
count 319)
What I can do to enhance human understanding related to diversity issues is literally just spread my knowledge in conversation. I think, depending on the situation, that the issues of diversity would need to be discussed first. Why it was ever made a thing, why the differences are treated as they are, and why change hasn’t happened yet. If it is ever brought up, or if I ever notice it and bring it up, I can spread the awareness that you’re not as little and useless as you thought, and everyone really does matter. I can spread the awareness that change, and difference should be a positive thing and we are wasting energy and time on being negative about it. I can correct people when they are being inappropriate, rude, or unaware of what they are doing. I would explain that they don’t need to talk like that just because its what some people do that it almost seems normal. We can change normal, we are just a leaf on the tree but together we are a beautiful sight and we are everything. I would explain that as well. And I think the last thing that would need to be explained is that the one thing that everyone needs to realize and understand. The reason change has not happened yet, is because enough people haven’t realized that you will not see the change. Not enough people have accepted that what they do to participate in the change will not be seen by then, and they need to accept that to make change happen. (word count 265)
What I can do to enhance human understanding related to diversity issues is literally just spread my knowledge in conversation. I think, depending on the situation, that the issues of diversity would need to be discussed first. Why it was ever made a thing, why the differences are treated as they are, and why change hasn’t happened yet. If it is ever brought up, or if I ever notice it and bring it up, I can spread the awareness that you’re not as little and useless as you thought, and everyone really does matter. I can spread the awareness that change, and difference should be a positive thing and we are wasting energy and time on being negative about it. I can correct people when they are being inappropriate, rude, or unaware of what they are doing. I would explain that they don’t need to talk like that just because its what some people do that it almost seems normal. We can change normal, we are just a leaf on the tree but together we are a beautiful sight and we are everything. I would explain that as well. And I think the last thing that would need to be explained is that the one thing that everyone needs to realize and understand. The reason change has not happened yet, is because enough people haven’t realized that you will not see the change. Not enough people have accepted that what they do to participate in the change will not be seen by then, and they need to accept that to make change happen. (word count 265)
Framework Essay IV Summary
This frame work essay is about moving away from an
individual sense of feeling powerless and work toward the social change
because as individuals, we do not have the power to change everything.
For us to do this process, we have to understand the adaption of a
proverb that Antonio Machado wrote. The adaption or phase is “we make
the road by walking” or “you make the way as you go”. This phase will
help us remember that you are the best person to know which “social
interventions” will work for you and convey that the road has not been
built. For this process, we have to work on ourselves first, and there
are four main lessons for us to concentrate on.The first lesson is increase our tolerance for making mistakes. The quote, “Realizing how little you know about other people’s life experience is a way to prepare for the absolute inevitability that, in trying to build connections across differences, you will make mistakes,” (pg. 486) is about we either have to increase our tolerance or risk giving up on all of our mistakes. Basically, we have to get used to making mistakes because there is no way around these mistakes.
Appreciate the status we occupy is the second lesson. This lesson is about appreciating stigmatized and privileged because it let us to response with more clarity to other individuals’ experiences of their status. Even though getting over shame is not easy, we have to recognize that shame exist and dysfunction is an important step.
As for the third lesson, it is about learning to “sit in the fire” of conflict and intense emotion. When we are with someone who is anger, we should not stop listening just because we don’t like the message or the way it is said to us. If we are the one that is angry, we should not let it overwhelm us. We should remember that, “Every person is important, even those who belong to majority groups that have historically oppressed other groups,” (pg. 487).
The last lesson is “Be an ally. Appreciate your allies”. This lesson is about us finding allies and appreciate them because the concept of an ally is nothing complicate. An alley is more about joining with others in collective action. We can make a difference by becoming an ally.
In conclusion, we shouldn’t felt powerless and insignificant and “understand that challenging the constructions of difference is well within all of our capabilities,” (pg. 490). (Word Count: 415)
Enhancing Human Understandings
I can enhance human understanding related to diversity issues is by
remembering that our differences are what make each one of us unique. As
individuals, we shouldn’t try to change the way we are or how other
people views us. Instead, we should acknowledge our differences and be
happy for who we are. It doesn’t matter what race, ethnicity, sexuality
gender, class, and the disability an individual have, we are still one
nation and be able to share these differences. I will move away from
feeling powerless and work on the social change. Even if it is a process
for this change, I will be patient and understand that it is going to
take me time to make that change. When there is a change without me
knowing or wanting it, I will learn how to accept the change. Also, I
can enhance it by following the four lessons that I have learned in the
Framework Essay IV. Increasing my tolerance of making mistakes will help
me build connections to the differences of each individual. Even if
there are conflicts and intense emotion, I will remember to sit in the
fire and try to calm myself in that situation. Having an ally can help
myself to join other in a collective action and make a difference. (Word
Count: 216)
Framework
essay four talks about how we can bridge the gap by our differences. It
starts out by talking about how some people may feel powerless and not
feel able to even start to make a difference. This is because some
individuals are stigmatized against or their master statuses hinder
their walk in life. The number one hindrance is the ability to seek
higher education or education at all. “Educational institutions teach us
our rights and our history, sharpen our thinking and decision-making,
and open us to others’ lived experience.” With education there is a
sense of local community. Thought it has never been like this, education
gives everyone a chance to change.
As
people become educated they find themselves faced with adversity. The
coined quote “We make the road by walking” by poet Antonio Machado goes
to show that people have to blaze their own “roads” to ahead in life.
“Just like Myles Horton founded the Highlander Folk School in Tennessee
in 1932, when American racial segregation was still firmly in place.” If
he didn’t start this school to help African Americans to become more
educated and to blaze his own trail, then the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
Wouldn’t have come into play. Blacks were not able to vote because they
were illiterate.
The
essay goes on to list four main lessons on which an individual may do
to concentrate on one’s self. In doing so, focusing on yourself to be
better person ultimately helps you and the community you are associated
with. The four lessons: 1. Increase your tolerance for making mistakes.
2. Appreciate the statuses you occupy 3. Learn to “sit in the fire” 4.
Be an ally. Appreciate your allies. Working on these four lessons help
you grow as a person and also helps you grow in knowing individuals that
are different from you. (308)
Personally
what I can do to enhance human understanding is to first work on myself
as a person. Focusing on how I may think and act towards certain
situations and finding a way to fix that. Then I would help to stand up
towards those of difference. Whether it’s bullying or jokes that seem
inappropriate. I could make a ripple affect even if I don’t think I have
made any kind of difference. I could learn to not try to make
conversations uncomfortable but open to what people of difference might
feel. Then once an effect was made then maybe help those around make
their own changes. Being an advocate to people of difference can be a
great way to make a difference even when I don’t feel I have done so.
Being a person of Mexican decent I can relate to both privileged and
oppressed people at the same time. (151)
After
recognizing the power of master statuses and our differences in
personal identity along with world events, we must not feel powerless.
While
there are many different groups of people, we must realize that there
are many similarities among these groups through shared experience.
The general theme in higher education is more on "understanding" than doing. However, education is also the source of much social change. Education teaches us everything about our history and rights and opens up many other doors. Education shows us possibilities but we are still the one that must make the choices on how to use and implement what we learn. We, as individuals, are responsible for our own actions. We choose to do what we do.
Though we do not have the power to change everything, we can change some things. We might think that what we do really means nothing in the big picture but we must do it anyway.
The
phrase "we make the road by walking" reveals that, we, are the best
person to know which "social interventions" will work for us. The social change methods we use or confront must be consistent with ourselves. We have to be true to who we are to facilitate real social change. We are our own best resource but will never have all the answers we need. People learn from each other.
We must first work on ourselves to challenge social constructions. We can do this in four main ways:
1. Increase your tolerance for making mistakes. We must realize that we will make mistakes or risk giving up altogether.
2. Appreciate the statuses you occupy. We must not be ashamed of who we are.
3. Learn to "sit in the fire". To be able to bridge differences, we must be able to engage in conflict and intense emotion.
4. Be an ally, appreciate your allies. An ally is someone who is committed, as you are, to eliminating a stigma. There is force and change in numbers. (329)
What can I do to enhance human understanding?
There actually are many things an individual can do to enhance human understanding. We must first realize that we are not powerless in what seems to be overwhelming odds.
One thing that we all must do is to continue learning. We must know the choices that are presented to us and be able to make the right decisions. We have to know which of these decisions are the best for us and are consistent with who we are. We need to work on ourselves first to then be able to make a difference in the world.
There
are four main lessons on which each of us can work to not only better
ourselves but to help change the way others in society think and
operate.
First, we must not be afraid to make mistakes and/or to fail. To me the perfect saying that applies here is that there are no stupid questions. Really, there are only stupid people that don't seek to find answers. We all continually make mistakes and instead of apologizing for them we need to accept that fact and persevere in spite of them.
Next, we must accept our status. In doing so, we are able to claim responsibility, good and bad, of being a certain race, social status, and so on.
Third, in order to bridge societal differences we must be willing to engage in conflict and intense emotion.
Lastly, we must appreciate our allies. If
we bind together for a common cause, this allows us to join each other
in a collective action to change privilege and oppression. (264)
05/15/2018 8:57 am
1. Summarize Framework Essay 4 (FE4) pp.481-491 with 300+ words. 10 points.
This essay makes it clear for us to see that there are steps for us to take open our eyes and create alliances. The framework essay's previous to this one, ran the risk of leaving people feeling helpless. Myles Horton was one out of two educator-activist that help bridge the differences between individuals. He did so as the founder of the Highland Folk School in Tennessee in 1932. This was a time were racial segregation was still in place. His goal was to, 'use education as one of the instruments for bringing about a new social order.' At his school, students were taught non-violence and southern blacks were taught how to read and write to make it possible for them to vote. The second educator-activist was, Paulo Freire. Both Freire and Horton were authors of a book called, "You make the way as you go." Paulo was also an author of the book,"Pedagogy of the Oppressed." In the 1960's, he was in charge of the Brazilian national literacy program before the government was over thrown by the military coup. Similar to America, Brazil's poor were also not allowed to vote, claiming that they were illiterate. Freire was forced to leave Brazil, but he continued to write and developed literacy programs elsewhere. Horton and Freire book also provides basic lessons on turning learning into action. "We make the road by walking" conveys two ideas of how an individual can make a change. First, it shows that, "... you are the best person to know which 'social interventions' will work for you." The best thing you can do is to learn who you are and make sure that the social change methods are consistent with you, and not someone else. Another point that, "We make the road by walking" makes is that the road has not already been built and it it up to us to pave that road. It is important to recognize that it is up to us to be our own resource and that we will never have all the answers we need. In order to challenge social constructions of difference, we have to work on ourself first. This framework essay breaks it down to four main lessons. The first lesson is to increase your tolerance for making mistakes. Doing this will allow you to learn new things through mistakes that you may make that are either good or bad. The next lesson is, appreciate the status you occupy. Whether you occupy a status that is privileged, stigmatized or even both, appreciating it allows you to respond to other individuals experience with more clarity. This means to not be ashamed of who you are. The third lesson is to learn to "sit in the fire." Occupying a privileged status or a stigmatized status may fuel a lot of a emotions. If you are considered to be privileged you may guilty. By focusing on how you may feel will take away from the peoples experiences you are trying to understand. If you are stigmatized, you may feel anger. The advice given in the essay says to listen to those who feel angry so you can understand it. Also, don't take the anger personally unless you are told it is about you. The fourth lesson is to be an ally and appreciate you allies. By recalling a time when you were treated unfairly and remembering how you wished someone would have done for you, will give you a good understanding of what being an ally calls for. Also, asking people what would be helpful in order to educate yourself on the history of the stigmatized groups can be another way for you to be ally. Overall, this essay was very enlightening and brought up great ideas in order for us to be able to make change for our society. 638.
2. Share what you can do to enhance human understanding
related to diversity issues with 200+ words. 10 points.
Some things I can do to enhance human understanding is to make myself aware of my actions and the things that I say. It is easy to get caught up with what everyone else thinks is "cool" or funny" that nobody wants to be the person to say otherwise. Reading 56 touches on this idea. Standing up for those who are a minority is a simple way for us to make step forward towards change in our society. Accepting who I am and others around me is another way I can help enhance human understanding. Whether we are privileged, stigmatized or both, that doesn't make someone better than the other. Accepting your neighbor's status and not making judgements towards them is another step to help social change. Being willing to learn and understand diversity and the issue's that are with it, is another way to help human understanding. Having an open mind to what others have to say or go through will not only make it easier for change to happen, but also make those who occupy a stigmatized status, feel like they are being heard. I believe if we all take these small steps, it will our world a much better place. 203.
This essay makes it clear for us to see that there are steps for us to take open our eyes and create alliances. The framework essay's previous to this one, ran the risk of leaving people feeling helpless. Myles Horton was one out of two educator-activist that help bridge the differences between individuals. He did so as the founder of the Highland Folk School in Tennessee in 1932. This was a time were racial segregation was still in place. His goal was to, 'use education as one of the instruments for bringing about a new social order.' At his school, students were taught non-violence and southern blacks were taught how to read and write to make it possible for them to vote. The second educator-activist was, Paulo Freire. Both Freire and Horton were authors of a book called, "You make the way as you go." Paulo was also an author of the book,"Pedagogy of the Oppressed." In the 1960's, he was in charge of the Brazilian national literacy program before the government was over thrown by the military coup. Similar to America, Brazil's poor were also not allowed to vote, claiming that they were illiterate. Freire was forced to leave Brazil, but he continued to write and developed literacy programs elsewhere. Horton and Freire book also provides basic lessons on turning learning into action. "We make the road by walking" conveys two ideas of how an individual can make a change. First, it shows that, "... you are the best person to know which 'social interventions' will work for you." The best thing you can do is to learn who you are and make sure that the social change methods are consistent with you, and not someone else. Another point that, "We make the road by walking" makes is that the road has not already been built and it it up to us to pave that road. It is important to recognize that it is up to us to be our own resource and that we will never have all the answers we need. In order to challenge social constructions of difference, we have to work on ourself first. This framework essay breaks it down to four main lessons. The first lesson is to increase your tolerance for making mistakes. Doing this will allow you to learn new things through mistakes that you may make that are either good or bad. The next lesson is, appreciate the status you occupy. Whether you occupy a status that is privileged, stigmatized or even both, appreciating it allows you to respond to other individuals experience with more clarity. This means to not be ashamed of who you are. The third lesson is to learn to "sit in the fire." Occupying a privileged status or a stigmatized status may fuel a lot of a emotions. If you are considered to be privileged you may guilty. By focusing on how you may feel will take away from the peoples experiences you are trying to understand. If you are stigmatized, you may feel anger. The advice given in the essay says to listen to those who feel angry so you can understand it. Also, don't take the anger personally unless you are told it is about you. The fourth lesson is to be an ally and appreciate you allies. By recalling a time when you were treated unfairly and remembering how you wished someone would have done for you, will give you a good understanding of what being an ally calls for. Also, asking people what would be helpful in order to educate yourself on the history of the stigmatized groups can be another way for you to be ally. Overall, this essay was very enlightening and brought up great ideas in order for us to be able to make change for our society. 638.
2. Share what you can do to enhance human understanding
related to diversity issues with 200+ words. 10 points.
Some things I can do to enhance human understanding is to make myself aware of my actions and the things that I say. It is easy to get caught up with what everyone else thinks is "cool" or funny" that nobody wants to be the person to say otherwise. Reading 56 touches on this idea. Standing up for those who are a minority is a simple way for us to make step forward towards change in our society. Accepting who I am and others around me is another way I can help enhance human understanding. Whether we are privileged, stigmatized or both, that doesn't make someone better than the other. Accepting your neighbor's status and not making judgements towards them is another step to help social change. Being willing to learn and understand diversity and the issue's that are with it, is another way to help human understanding. Having an open mind to what others have to say or go through will not only make it easier for change to happen, but also make those who occupy a stigmatized status, feel like they are being heard. I believe if we all take these small steps, it will our world a much better place. 203.
05/15/2018 9:25 am
The framework essay begins by talking about the Highlander Folk
School in Tennessee which was founded by Myles Horton and how the school
is known for its contribution to the civil rights movement. They
started “Citizenship Schools” that taught blacks how to read and write
so that they could vote and taught about the methods of nonviolence.
Paulo Freire, who is author of the book Pedagogy in the 1960’s, was
forced to flee Brazil but began to write and develop literacy programs.
“His belief that education must operate as a dialogue, rooted in values
and committed to transforming the world, made him one of the most
influential thinkers of the last century.” (Pg. 484, Rosenblum and
Travis).
The reading continues to talk about how Myles Horton and Paulo Freires lives had a significant impact on the power of education to produce social change. “There is probably nothing more fundamental to social change than learning who you are; finding and honoring that authentic self; recognizing that it is multifaceted, complex, and evolving—and then making sure that the social change methods you use are consistent with that self.” (Pg. 484, Rosenblum and Travis). We need to recognize that we need to be our own resource and will not always have all the answers that we need.
There are four main lessons when working on yourself. First, you must increase your tolerance for making mistakes. It is given that you will make mistakes and it is important to increase your tolerance of making them and focus on learning from those mistakes. Second, you must appreciate the statuses you occupy. The authors mention how it might sound odd to appreciate your status (stigmatized or privileged), but it allows you to respond with more clarity to others experiences of their own statuses. Appreciating your status allows you to not be ashamed of who you are. Third, learn to “sit in the fire”. Those in privileged statuses often feel a sense of guilt when it comes to discussions about prejudice and discrimination. Those in stigmatized statues often feel anger. Those who fall under both can feel both guilt and anger. So, everyone can have strong emotional experience. The author gives the advice to not succumb to our guilt, anger is a little more difficult. When listening to someone who is angry, truly listen to them so that you can understand them and don’t let their anger trigger your own. Do not let your own anger overwhelm you and try to avoid self-righteousness. “As you experience sitting in the fire, remember that the benefits of diversity derive from engagement, not passive observation. Interaction about difference will inevitably entail periods of disagreement and conflict.” (Pg. 487, Rosenblum and Travis).
Fourth, be an ally. Appreciate your skills. The author finds this to be the most important lesson, to be an ally, find allies and appreciate those allies. You can learn about being an ally by asking others what would be helpful and also educate yourself about the history and experience of people in stigmatized groups. A majority of the personal accounts in this book have to do with the person wishing they had an ally or having one. There are many ways that someone can be an ally, even for example at lunch. This is public meal where those in stigmatized groups may find themselves alone, eating with other members of the same group, or hide. An ally would extend an invitation to join that person. You might also consider how you can become an ally who makes a difference. “Getting allies sometimes requires asking for help and even telling people what you specifically want or don’t want them to do.” (Pg. 489, Rosenblum and Travis).
Word-Count: 618
Some things that I can do to enhance human understanding related to diversity issues to talk about what those issues are and why they even exist. It is important to educate others on these topics because many people might not know much about diversity, therefore, if they don’t know much about it, how can they begin to truly understand it. I learned so much about diversity and the topics related to in just these short 8 weeks. The most important thing I will take away from this class and can also teach others is that although we may feel powerless when it comes to change, we are actually more powerful and influential than we may think, and our actions can have a strong impact on others and help create a path for others to follow. However, before we can begin to make any changes, we need to first know what needs to be changed and the diversity issues that we are currently facing in our world. I think the best way to help others understand something is to have someone think from another point of view or perspective. It can be difficult to do, but I think doing this is the best way to understand the differences another individual or group may face. We also need to stand up for others when we witness people being discriminated against, how can change happen if we all just stand by and do nothing? We are more powerful than we may know, and it is important to educate others on diversity issues before we can truly start to make bigger changes.
Word-Count: 268
The reading continues to talk about how Myles Horton and Paulo Freires lives had a significant impact on the power of education to produce social change. “There is probably nothing more fundamental to social change than learning who you are; finding and honoring that authentic self; recognizing that it is multifaceted, complex, and evolving—and then making sure that the social change methods you use are consistent with that self.” (Pg. 484, Rosenblum and Travis). We need to recognize that we need to be our own resource and will not always have all the answers that we need.
There are four main lessons when working on yourself. First, you must increase your tolerance for making mistakes. It is given that you will make mistakes and it is important to increase your tolerance of making them and focus on learning from those mistakes. Second, you must appreciate the statuses you occupy. The authors mention how it might sound odd to appreciate your status (stigmatized or privileged), but it allows you to respond with more clarity to others experiences of their own statuses. Appreciating your status allows you to not be ashamed of who you are. Third, learn to “sit in the fire”. Those in privileged statuses often feel a sense of guilt when it comes to discussions about prejudice and discrimination. Those in stigmatized statues often feel anger. Those who fall under both can feel both guilt and anger. So, everyone can have strong emotional experience. The author gives the advice to not succumb to our guilt, anger is a little more difficult. When listening to someone who is angry, truly listen to them so that you can understand them and don’t let their anger trigger your own. Do not let your own anger overwhelm you and try to avoid self-righteousness. “As you experience sitting in the fire, remember that the benefits of diversity derive from engagement, not passive observation. Interaction about difference will inevitably entail periods of disagreement and conflict.” (Pg. 487, Rosenblum and Travis).
Fourth, be an ally. Appreciate your skills. The author finds this to be the most important lesson, to be an ally, find allies and appreciate those allies. You can learn about being an ally by asking others what would be helpful and also educate yourself about the history and experience of people in stigmatized groups. A majority of the personal accounts in this book have to do with the person wishing they had an ally or having one. There are many ways that someone can be an ally, even for example at lunch. This is public meal where those in stigmatized groups may find themselves alone, eating with other members of the same group, or hide. An ally would extend an invitation to join that person. You might also consider how you can become an ally who makes a difference. “Getting allies sometimes requires asking for help and even telling people what you specifically want or don’t want them to do.” (Pg. 489, Rosenblum and Travis).
Word-Count: 618
Some things that I can do to enhance human understanding related to diversity issues to talk about what those issues are and why they even exist. It is important to educate others on these topics because many people might not know much about diversity, therefore, if they don’t know much about it, how can they begin to truly understand it. I learned so much about diversity and the topics related to in just these short 8 weeks. The most important thing I will take away from this class and can also teach others is that although we may feel powerless when it comes to change, we are actually more powerful and influential than we may think, and our actions can have a strong impact on others and help create a path for others to follow. However, before we can begin to make any changes, we need to first know what needs to be changed and the diversity issues that we are currently facing in our world. I think the best way to help others understand something is to have someone think from another point of view or perspective. It can be difficult to do, but I think doing this is the best way to understand the differences another individual or group may face. We also need to stand up for others when we witness people being discriminated against, how can change happen if we all just stand by and do nothing? We are more powerful than we may know, and it is important to educate others on diversity issues before we can truly start to make bigger changes.
Word-Count: 268
05/15/2018 10:06 am
Summarize Framework Essay 4 (FE4) pp.481-491 with 300+ words. 10 points.
“Having recognized the power of master statuses and the significance of our conceptions of difference in everything from personal identity to world events, it is easy to feel powerless in the face of what appear to be overwhelming social forces.” Feeling powerless could be because of the nature of society and not because of the nature of education. Nature of education, learning changes us. People often feel powerless to bring social change and hopelessly insignificant in the face of overwhelming social forces. In higher education its for more of the understanding than doing. “We make the road by walking” means only you know which social interventions will work for you. It also means the road is not already built, but you are to make your own road. You will never have all the answers you need, but you do need to be your own resource and not an impersonation of someone else. It is highly important to work on yourself as a person first. You must try to focus on learning from the good, bad, and ugly. You must increase your tolerance for making mistakes. You must appreciate your status, “stigmatized and privileged”, because it’s the foundation that allows you to respond with clarity. For those in the privileged statuses, guilt is the most common reaction to discussions of prejudice and discrimination. For those in the stigmatized status, anger is at the top. You have to learn to sit in the fire “every person is important, even those who belong to majority groups that have historically oppressed other groups. Be an ally and appreciate your allies, think of a time you or someone around you was treated differently because of the status they belong to, what you have done; what you wish someone did for you. The role of an ally is critical. The book says being an ally isn’t always what you can do on your own, it is also about joining with others in collective action. With this being said we shouldn’t feel powerless and insignificant because of the status we belong to and the levels of education we have. Challenging the constructions of difference is something we are all capable of achieving.
Word count 367
Share what you can do to enhance human understanding
related to diversity issues with 200+ words. 10 points.
To enhance human understanding we must first learn to appreciate and like who we are as people. We shouldn’t have to care what our race, sex, sexuality, social class, and disabilities are. As a society we shouldn’t be looking at our-selves or others for what they have or what their skin color is and what group they or we belong to. We need to make sure we do not feel powerless; Even when things are tough, and overwhelming. Growing as a nation instead of just as one single person in the world we live in would help. Learning about each culture and the differences everyone faces would help us gain our allies and allow us to make the change we all need to see. If we just open our minds and not think so lowly of someone who is different then we are, we would feel much better as human being. If your going to constantly be looking down on someone for what the have, what the look like, and how they act you aren’t a very good person to interact with. To make the change we need to see to enhance our human understandings of diversities we need to be more accepting of others.
Word count 205
“Having recognized the power of master statuses and the significance of our conceptions of difference in everything from personal identity to world events, it is easy to feel powerless in the face of what appear to be overwhelming social forces.” Feeling powerless could be because of the nature of society and not because of the nature of education. Nature of education, learning changes us. People often feel powerless to bring social change and hopelessly insignificant in the face of overwhelming social forces. In higher education its for more of the understanding than doing. “We make the road by walking” means only you know which social interventions will work for you. It also means the road is not already built, but you are to make your own road. You will never have all the answers you need, but you do need to be your own resource and not an impersonation of someone else. It is highly important to work on yourself as a person first. You must try to focus on learning from the good, bad, and ugly. You must increase your tolerance for making mistakes. You must appreciate your status, “stigmatized and privileged”, because it’s the foundation that allows you to respond with clarity. For those in the privileged statuses, guilt is the most common reaction to discussions of prejudice and discrimination. For those in the stigmatized status, anger is at the top. You have to learn to sit in the fire “every person is important, even those who belong to majority groups that have historically oppressed other groups. Be an ally and appreciate your allies, think of a time you or someone around you was treated differently because of the status they belong to, what you have done; what you wish someone did for you. The role of an ally is critical. The book says being an ally isn’t always what you can do on your own, it is also about joining with others in collective action. With this being said we shouldn’t feel powerless and insignificant because of the status we belong to and the levels of education we have. Challenging the constructions of difference is something we are all capable of achieving.
Word count 367
Share what you can do to enhance human understanding
related to diversity issues with 200+ words. 10 points.
To enhance human understanding we must first learn to appreciate and like who we are as people. We shouldn’t have to care what our race, sex, sexuality, social class, and disabilities are. As a society we shouldn’t be looking at our-selves or others for what they have or what their skin color is and what group they or we belong to. We need to make sure we do not feel powerless; Even when things are tough, and overwhelming. Growing as a nation instead of just as one single person in the world we live in would help. Learning about each culture and the differences everyone faces would help us gain our allies and allow us to make the change we all need to see. If we just open our minds and not think so lowly of someone who is different then we are, we would feel much better as human being. If your going to constantly be looking down on someone for what the have, what the look like, and how they act you aren’t a very good person to interact with. To make the change we need to see to enhance our human understandings of diversities we need to be more accepting of others.
Word count 205
05/15/2018 10:31 am
Framework Essay 4
This essay focused on what individuals can do when they might feel powerless to social change. It is important to educate yourself, and look for new ways to understand others, as well as create alliances. We all have differences, but this essay worked to bridge the gaps between them.
Poet Antonio Machado’s quote, “we make the road by walking,” is symbolic of people taking ownership of their lives and making their way as they go. We have to learn which social situations work for us as individuals and pick our battles. Myles Horton, an activist and educator said there are two was to approach inevitable incompleteness. First, the way to do something was to start doing it and learn from it. Second, people learn from each other. (pg 485.) No one will ever have all of the answers to every situation in life, but it’s important to get out there and try to do something.
This essay had four guidelines to working on yourself first before building the “road”.
Share what you can do to enhance human understanding
related to diversity issues with 200+ words
To enhance human understanding related to diversity issues we would first have to put people in more diverse situations. It could be things like, volunteering at a homeless shelter or a food pantry, to get a better understanding of people who are less fortunate than yourself, and erase the stigmas surrounding homelessness and poverty. I sort of forced my coworkers into being more diverse when I became the supervisor of the middle-aged, white male population at my company. It just helped erase some of the stigma that women are inferior to men. In 2018, we all need to practice being more tolerant because we have a diverse country.
Another way to enhance understanding is having more discussions. Someone in a privileged status has more opportunity to get their voice heard, so they have the ability to speak up for those in a stigmatized status. I think it is very simple to stop the spread of discrimination just by putting zero tolerance to it. I think of the T.V. show, “What Would You Do?” and how they put regular people in situations to see if they would really speak up and say something when they see violence or discrimination or dangerous situations. There are a lot of people that will flat out tell someone to stop what they are doing with no problem. But the more quiet, reserved people are looking around for that strong person to step up and say something or be reinforcement if they do decide to jump into confrontation. A voice, no matter how small, makes a difference to someone who is being discriminated against.
Word count: 268
This essay focused on what individuals can do when they might feel powerless to social change. It is important to educate yourself, and look for new ways to understand others, as well as create alliances. We all have differences, but this essay worked to bridge the gaps between them.
Poet Antonio Machado’s quote, “we make the road by walking,” is symbolic of people taking ownership of their lives and making their way as they go. We have to learn which social situations work for us as individuals and pick our battles. Myles Horton, an activist and educator said there are two was to approach inevitable incompleteness. First, the way to do something was to start doing it and learn from it. Second, people learn from each other. (pg 485.) No one will ever have all of the answers to every situation in life, but it’s important to get out there and try to do something.
This essay had four guidelines to working on yourself first before building the “road”.
- Increase your tolerance for making mistakes. Sometimes people can get so caught up in the fear of making mistakes that they won’t even try. All attempts, positive or negative, are the chance to learn something.
- Appreciate the statuses you occupy. Being able to appreciate your stigmatized or privileged status will help you understand the experiences of people in other statuses. Part of appreciating your status is being comfortable in it, and not being ashamed of who you are.
- Learn to sit in the fire. Sitting in the fire symbolizes staying strong and not feeling the guilt, but face conflicts and emotions head on. When someone gets angry, it’s important to listen to them, and try to understand what they are really trying to say.
- Be an ally. Appreciate your allies. An ally is someone committed to eliminating stigma and ill-treatment of those in stigmatized statuses. (pg. 488) Allies are people who join together to be part of a social movement and can be very successful in doing so.
Share what you can do to enhance human understanding
related to diversity issues with 200+ words
To enhance human understanding related to diversity issues we would first have to put people in more diverse situations. It could be things like, volunteering at a homeless shelter or a food pantry, to get a better understanding of people who are less fortunate than yourself, and erase the stigmas surrounding homelessness and poverty. I sort of forced my coworkers into being more diverse when I became the supervisor of the middle-aged, white male population at my company. It just helped erase some of the stigma that women are inferior to men. In 2018, we all need to practice being more tolerant because we have a diverse country.
Another way to enhance understanding is having more discussions. Someone in a privileged status has more opportunity to get their voice heard, so they have the ability to speak up for those in a stigmatized status. I think it is very simple to stop the spread of discrimination just by putting zero tolerance to it. I think of the T.V. show, “What Would You Do?” and how they put regular people in situations to see if they would really speak up and say something when they see violence or discrimination or dangerous situations. There are a lot of people that will flat out tell someone to stop what they are doing with no problem. But the more quiet, reserved people are looking around for that strong person to step up and say something or be reinforcement if they do decide to jump into confrontation. A voice, no matter how small, makes a difference to someone who is being discriminated against.
Word count: 268
05/15/2018 5:46 pm
The
framework essay starts out by talking about why they wrote the book and
the struggles with making people feel as though they can make a
difference. The believe education teaches us about our rights, our
history our decision making and it opens us up to others and is also a
source for social change. It talks about how Myles Horton founded the
Highlander Folk School which is a racially integrated adult education
school and had a large contribution to the civil rights movement. He
also started citizenship schools which taught southern blacks to read
and write so they could pass the tests required to vote. "We make the
road by walking" means that what we go through is not predicted and
there is no book designed for all of the situation we go through in
life. The reading talks about how President Obama had a hard time
finding work even after writing to many civil rights organizations .
black elected officials and many others. Obama was putting on a speech
and it was getting close to the time he was supposed to speak and there
was hardly anyone in audience until the very
last minuet. The reading also talks about how you need to work on
yourself which is the first step to challenging social construction. It
also talks about how you need to increase your tolerance for making
mistakes. If you do not increase your tolerance
for mistakes you may risk giving up all together and you must learn
from the mistakes. You must also appreciate the statuses you were given.
By appreciating these statuses and stigmas you are showing yourself and
others that you are not ashamed of who you are. You must also learn to
"sit in the fire". This just means instead of getting angry you must
listen to others so that you understand where they are coming from and
to not stop listening because you don't like the message or the way it
is packaged. Do not let another persons anger upset you because this
will cause you to not listen to the other person and know that you can
withstand their anger. You must also be an ally and appreciate your
allies. An ally is someone who is committed to eliminating stigma and
the ill-treatment of those in stigmatized statuses. "If you were ever
treated unfairly because of a status you occupy and think about what you
wish someone would have done or said on your behalf, you will then
understand the critical role an ally can play, and you will have a good
sense of what the role calls for." (Words 438)
To enhance human understanding we must appreciate ourselves and where we came from. Having diversity or being "different" should not be a bad thing. We should learn to embrace our differences and just because someone is not like us does not mean they are a bad person or not as smart. We should not stigmatize or be rude to someone with a disability or because their skin is a different color than our because that's what we were taught. We need to stand up and if someone makes a racial joke, we need to tell them to stop and then maybe others will stop also in hope it will reach more and more people. We must also learn about our ancestry and where we came from so we are able to provide facts if someone is being rude or saying harsh things about our culture. We must also put ourselves in other peoples shoes. We do not know everyone past or how they grew up but by learning about them and not making fun of them we might be able to make an ally or show people it is wrong to stigmatize people. If we see discrimination happening we must stand up for what is right and not walk away because we don't want to intervene. By walking away it is showing we don't care and showing that we are ok with what is happening. We must take small steps in our lives to make a bigger impact in other peoples lives. (words 252)
To enhance human understanding we must appreciate ourselves and where we came from. Having diversity or being "different" should not be a bad thing. We should learn to embrace our differences and just because someone is not like us does not mean they are a bad person or not as smart. We should not stigmatize or be rude to someone with a disability or because their skin is a different color than our because that's what we were taught. We need to stand up and if someone makes a racial joke, we need to tell them to stop and then maybe others will stop also in hope it will reach more and more people. We must also learn about our ancestry and where we came from so we are able to provide facts if someone is being rude or saying harsh things about our culture. We must also put ourselves in other peoples shoes. We do not know everyone past or how they grew up but by learning about them and not making fun of them we might be able to make an ally or show people it is wrong to stigmatize people. If we see discrimination happening we must stand up for what is right and not walk away because we don't want to intervene. By walking away it is showing we don't care and showing that we are ok with what is happening. We must take small steps in our lives to make a bigger impact in other peoples lives. (words 252)
05/15/2018 7:52 pm
Framework Essay starts by talking about how they feared the book
would discourage people and think that we are powerless when it comes to
change. They wanted us to know that wasn't there intentions at all.
They wanted to show us how we are share more similarities than we think
we do with each other. Teaching us the history of people who struggle
with being stigmatized or dealing with their privileges or lack of
privilege helps us know what we should or shouldn't do. Horton started
the Highlander School in 1932 that was an integrated school that taught
people about history, the government and leadership. It was were Rosa
Parks had attended school before she had boycotted moving to the back of
the bus in Montgomery, Alabama. It helps us show that we can create
the future we want. We can't rely on other people to help us be the way
we want to be or create what we want. Hence why in the text Horton talks
about how he refused to tell one how to do it even after being
threatened because if someone is always telling us how to do it we will
never leave how to do it on our own. We have to work on ourselves first
in order to change the people and world around us. It tells us to
increase our willingness to make mistakes. Don't be afraid to mess up or
be afraid what others are going to think that will just hold you back
from being you. Appreciate the statuses you occupy. If you want others
to treat you differently because of your status you can't treat your
status like there is something wrong with it. Be proud of who you and
other will be proud too. Learn to sit in the fire. Don't be afraid to
stand up for what you believe it just because you don't want to deal
with the conflicts. You have to put your guilt aside because that makes
it more about you than someone else and you have to put your anger aside
because it keeps us from actually listening to what the other person
has to say. Be an Ally and Appreciate your Allies we talk about how in
all the personal accounts we have read in this book we learn that the
author just wanted someone to be on their side to understand where they
were coming from. We end the framework with a better understanding of
what we can do to make a bigger impact in the word instead of being
discouraged by thinking that just one person can't make an impact. - Word count: 440.
2. Share what you can do to enhance human understanding
related to diversity issues with 200+ words.
In order for me to enhance human understanding I must first be proud of the privileges I carry. I must also learn to stand by the people who don't possess the privileges I carry. We need to stand up for people and stop being so afraid that we will be the next one to be picked on and realize that someone who feels the need to belittle someone is the problem not me because I am a female, or someone because they are disabled or a different skin color. I should also learn more about the history of my privileges and astigmatism the more we know the better we are to help the people around us. IT takes just little steps for me to make a small impact in someones life and I need to be better about saying what I feel verse staying quiet just so I don't have to start an argument with someone else. Word count- 176.
2. Share what you can do to enhance human understanding
related to diversity issues with 200+ words.
In order for me to enhance human understanding I must first be proud of the privileges I carry. I must also learn to stand by the people who don't possess the privileges I carry. We need to stand up for people and stop being so afraid that we will be the next one to be picked on and realize that someone who feels the need to belittle someone is the problem not me because I am a female, or someone because they are disabled or a different skin color. I should also learn more about the history of my privileges and astigmatism the more we know the better we are to help the people around us. IT takes just little steps for me to make a small impact in someones life and I need to be better about saying what I feel verse staying quiet just so I don't have to start an argument with someone else. Word count- 176.
05/15/2018 9:21 pm
1. Summarize Framework Essay 4 (FE4) pp.481-491 with 300+ words. 10 points.
After reading this last essay I have learned that this book was not wrote to make people feel powerless but to empower them. It gave examples of people that changed the path and made the road by walking. It gave steps and the first thing people should do is work on themselves first to make a difference in society. The first step in this change is to increase your tolerance for mistakes. If you do this and are not scared to make mistakes you will put yourself out there and not miss opportunities for connection. You should appreciate the status you occupy and not be ashamed of it. You should honor, value, and have some reasonable level of comfort about being whatever you may be. It is stated you should learn the full history, good and bad, and it will help you find heroes as well as avoid false pride. Often times people in privileged statuses guilt can be the most common reaction to discussions of prejudice and discrimination. If there appears to be no diversity in the setting you find yourself in then the odds are that is just how things look and no matter how homogenous a group may seem there will always be layers of difference. You should also be an ally and appreciate your allies. This means that if you remember a time where you may have been treated unfairly because of a status you occupy and you think about how you wish someone would have done something or said something on your behalf, that is when you realize how critical an ally can be. The main point in the essay is to empower everyone to realize that challenging the constructions of difference is well within all of our capabilities. word count: 327
2. Share what you can do to enhance human understanding
related to diversity issues with 200+ words. 10 points.
In order to enhance human understanding I must first change myself. This means I should allow myself to make mistakes and put myself out there so I do not miss opportunities. I should embrace the privilege and statuses I carry. Often times people are ashamed of them and feel guilty. I should learn to know the good and the bad of my people. I should not let myself succumb to guilt. I should not take an expression of anger personally unless I am told it actually is about me. When I am the one that is angry I should not let it overwhelm me. I should try to avoid self-righteousness. I should be an ally and appreciate my allies. I should join others in collective action. Social movements such as the women's movement had allies. They worked together to achieve this. Allies are often recruited more easily with appreciation rather than guilt. It is best to be an ally with a heart. It is stated that we all are capable of making differences. word count: 177
After reading this last essay I have learned that this book was not wrote to make people feel powerless but to empower them. It gave examples of people that changed the path and made the road by walking. It gave steps and the first thing people should do is work on themselves first to make a difference in society. The first step in this change is to increase your tolerance for mistakes. If you do this and are not scared to make mistakes you will put yourself out there and not miss opportunities for connection. You should appreciate the status you occupy and not be ashamed of it. You should honor, value, and have some reasonable level of comfort about being whatever you may be. It is stated you should learn the full history, good and bad, and it will help you find heroes as well as avoid false pride. Often times people in privileged statuses guilt can be the most common reaction to discussions of prejudice and discrimination. If there appears to be no diversity in the setting you find yourself in then the odds are that is just how things look and no matter how homogenous a group may seem there will always be layers of difference. You should also be an ally and appreciate your allies. This means that if you remember a time where you may have been treated unfairly because of a status you occupy and you think about how you wish someone would have done something or said something on your behalf, that is when you realize how critical an ally can be. The main point in the essay is to empower everyone to realize that challenging the constructions of difference is well within all of our capabilities. word count: 327
2. Share what you can do to enhance human understanding
related to diversity issues with 200+ words. 10 points.
In order to enhance human understanding I must first change myself. This means I should allow myself to make mistakes and put myself out there so I do not miss opportunities. I should embrace the privilege and statuses I carry. Often times people are ashamed of them and feel guilty. I should learn to know the good and the bad of my people. I should not let myself succumb to guilt. I should not take an expression of anger personally unless I am told it actually is about me. When I am the one that is angry I should not let it overwhelm me. I should try to avoid self-righteousness. I should be an ally and appreciate my allies. I should join others in collective action. Social movements such as the women's movement had allies. They worked together to achieve this. Allies are often recruited more easily with appreciation rather than guilt. It is best to be an ally with a heart. It is stated that we all are capable of making differences. word count: 177
05/15/2018 9:57 pm
1. In the Framework Essay 4, the author explains that after all
of these readings, we may doubt ourselves and our abilities to change
people’s perspectives. However, there are many ways that this can be a
possibility. The authors reference former president Barack Obama that
“we make the road by walking” – meaning we can be our own resources. And
so, the author goes into depth on ways that we can help society in an
individual level such as working on ourselves. They list, 4 main lessons
that will help encourage us to challenge social issues. We can increase
our tolerance for making mistakes, we can appreciate the statuses we
hold, we can learn to “sit in the fire”, and lastly, something that is
very strong, we can become an ally.
Increasing our tolerance when making mistakes can begin to make us realize that we can learn from our mistakes and in that way, we become better. If we don’t allow our mistakes to be made, we then begin to hold ourselves back. Appreciating our statuses such as what race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disabilities, class that we are, will allow us to be more confident and not ashamed of who we are. Learning to “sit in the fire” will teach us how to criticize and analyze others and their opinions. This in away will help us as a society to become closer. Being an ally is very important and beneficial. It will allow us to assist each other when in need and it also allows us to be more educated about one another. As said by the authors, “we did not write this book because we felt powerless or wanted you to feel that way.” They conclude that they want us as readers to take away these lessons and put them to use for us as a society to become more fluid. WC: 311
2. There are many different ways that someone can help another understand topics that involve diversity issues. The number one action that I believe to be most beneficial is by educating people. Many people are not aware of issues on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, class, or any level of difference because they are not being educated about it. Ever since I’ve become a college student, these topics are finally being taught and spoken about and this very fact is frightening because everyone needs to be learning about this due to the divide that comes out of it. Many people will say that they didn’t know and that is why their judgements exist. It isn’t just being educated on the differences, but it is also being educated about why and when the differences began. Our human history tells us a lot about diversity and that needs to be acknowledged as well. Once we are all educated about the difference within our society, that is when we can begin to appreciate each other and hopefully have less hate and more understanding perspectives. We have to come together to be able to learn from each other and that also begins by becoming each other’s allies. WC: 202
Increasing our tolerance when making mistakes can begin to make us realize that we can learn from our mistakes and in that way, we become better. If we don’t allow our mistakes to be made, we then begin to hold ourselves back. Appreciating our statuses such as what race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disabilities, class that we are, will allow us to be more confident and not ashamed of who we are. Learning to “sit in the fire” will teach us how to criticize and analyze others and their opinions. This in away will help us as a society to become closer. Being an ally is very important and beneficial. It will allow us to assist each other when in need and it also allows us to be more educated about one another. As said by the authors, “we did not write this book because we felt powerless or wanted you to feel that way.” They conclude that they want us as readers to take away these lessons and put them to use for us as a society to become more fluid. WC: 311
2. There are many different ways that someone can help another understand topics that involve diversity issues. The number one action that I believe to be most beneficial is by educating people. Many people are not aware of issues on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, class, or any level of difference because they are not being educated about it. Ever since I’ve become a college student, these topics are finally being taught and spoken about and this very fact is frightening because everyone needs to be learning about this due to the divide that comes out of it. Many people will say that they didn’t know and that is why their judgements exist. It isn’t just being educated on the differences, but it is also being educated about why and when the differences began. Our human history tells us a lot about diversity and that needs to be acknowledged as well. Once we are all educated about the difference within our society, that is when we can begin to appreciate each other and hopefully have less hate and more understanding perspectives. We have to come together to be able to learn from each other and that also begins by becoming each other’s allies. WC: 202
05/16/2018 1:31 pm
Framework
essay 4 seemed to summon up the reading we have done throughout this
book. I think the main focus of this was to share the importance of
educating yourself and improving on previous actions. It gave steps and
inspirational quotes to challenging social constructions. These four
steps give us a better understanding on the work we need to apply to
ourselves. The first step is increasing your tolerance for making
mistakes. The second is appreciate the statuses you occupy. The third
learning to “sit on the fire”, and finally be an ally, appreciate your
allies. These are the main steps to learning who we are and creating the
best us we can be. Increasing your tolerance for making mistakes, we
can become more tolerant of ourselves and then in return become more
tolerant of others. Appreciating the status, you occupy makes you less
entertainable of others that differ in their status. This will create an
easy of stereotyping others, we will accept others. Allowing yourself
to make mistakes will also increase your tolerance of accepting the
mistakes of others. Sitting on the fire can have many meanings behind
it. I think that in this case its specifically meaning that you cannot
sit and do nothing and expect change to happen. That was a theme that
was consent throughout this book was that you cannot sit by and expect
change to happen.
Word Count:300
What
I think that can be done to enhance human understanding in relation to
diversity issue is something similar to this final framework essay. I
think that if we all focus on working on ourselves. It can seem
overwhelming to try and change the whole world, but if we start small
and change ourselves I think the change in the world will come. What we
put out into the universe is what you get back. I think if we work on
enhancing human understanding relation then we can inform the rest of
the world of ways to enhance human understanding. Simple communication
between humans can start to make the change in people that we hope to
see. We have to become accepting of others and I feel like that
education is always key, the more we learn about others, the more we
teach others, the more tolerable we’ll be.
Word Count:200
05/16/2018 9:19 pm
Modify Date: 05/16/18 9:20pm
Modify Date: 05/16/18 9:20pm
Bridging Difference
- Summarize Framework Essay 4 (FE4) pp.481-491
Word Count: 411
2. Share what you can do to enhance human understanding related to diversity issues.
We can enhance human understanding by first educating ourselves. Education is important, so we know the history and can have a better understanding of those in stigmatized groups. Having the knowledge helps up become more open and sharpens our thinking/decision-making. Also, if you educated yourself, you then have the knowledge to help educate other’s positively to make real change in accepting people who are different from themselves or from society’s norms. Another way you can help if by reflecting who you are and making yourself the best person you can be. If you are happy, challenging yourself, expanding who you are, then who cares about what other people think about you. Sometimes you must be your own recourse and need to learn that some things are always inevitable. But accepting your bias and prejudices just makes you who you are and have a better understanding for why it’s so important for others to realize that you aren’t ever doing to change that but can change how other’s view you. Inspire others to accept difference and to make themselves happy by being their true self. Lastly, to truly accept diversity people must learn from each other and be able to put themselves in each other’s shoes to understand it might be like to be labeled as “different”.
Word Count 218
Modify Date: 04/25/18 4:00pm
What I have learned from this course it that I really need to watch myself and see how my reaction is to being diverse. This course has taught me the different areas of diversity and where I really need to be watchful of myself and others. I like how the book was laid out and taught from front to back on the different levels of diversity and how they all interact together. Statues, stigma, and all these large words that can be hard to understand really make sense to me now that I have learned really what the background is for them. Really we all have some of these that we don’t really know we sometimes put forth, but we do need to be aware and this has really taught me to watch how I am towards all people, not just those close to me, but those that I meet and interact with every day. I also want to be an ally to others and search out other ally’s so that we can network together to show others the positivity that can come from this. As was brought out in the concluding notes I did feel powerless and insignificant, but now after completing this I feel I understand the challenges and the differences and that I am capable of understanding it. (221 words)
What can I do? I can honestly say share, share, and share more information. When I began this class I honestly thought what am I going to learn, I am a diverse person what does it matter, but whoa I learned a TON of information and the best way to enhance human understanding is to share with others what you have learned and come to understand. Being diverse is more than just thinking that you get along well with others and are not a racist, it is your way of thinking, your way of feeling about others, the way you act towards those around you, honestly it is so much more than that. It’s what you were exposed to, what group you are in, how you were raised. Sometimes is how much understanding a person has versus how much education they have gotten on a particular subject, so to help the change we need to be out there giving people the correct knowledge on the subject and assisting them to learn about diversity and how they can be the change also, be an ally like ourselves. We are the first step, so we need to make sure that we are sharing what we have learned and showing others how they should be. (212 words)