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Blog Post #4


      I grew up in a very diverse community and the topic of racism would come up frequently. For instance, the conversations I would have in school growing up would be about personal experiences with racism and racism in certain areas of life (like the legal system), alongside other specific examples. What really opened my eyes to the depth of racism was through my college education. The most in-depth courses I have ever taken about race was in my college social work classes. The courses I took in college taught me how deeply embedded racism is in our country and how it impacts almost all areas of life. 

    One of the hardest things for me in my college education was processing my new knowledge of the larger racist systems that are put in place that we can't necessarily change. I always believe in constant action and growth, if there's a problem I try to move towards it. With some of the topics and discussions we would have in class there was no real immediate solution its more of a matter of education/awareness, legal steps, and time to make impactful change. 

    A quote that stuck out to me in Tatum's article that connects back my former lack of awareness of systemic racism, a white woman states "I actually perceived America to be a relatively racist free society. I thought that the people who were racist or subjected to racist stereotypes were found only in small pockets of the U.S, such as the South. As I've come to realize, racism (or at least racially oriented stereotypes) is rampant." Sadly this is a truth, racism is embedded in our country in all areas and not just the South, racism isn't just a personal experience but a larger one embedded in our country's schooling, housing, health care, and much more. 

Comments

  1. Victoria RestlerSeptember 28, 2020 at 6:43 PM

    Thanks for your post Dana and your reflections on your past educational experiences. I appreciate the impact of learning/ perceiving systemic racism as this deep pervasive thing--a structure that is not easy to change. Changing racism means changing racist structures and that is different than changing our own individual behaviors. And also it can be impactful to think about the spaces we interact with systems--do we sit on a hiring committee? Are we asked to serve on jury duty? Do we engage with systems of discipline and punishment? How might we bring a racial justice lens to these spaces?

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