October 3, 2014 - 15:06
I had a lot of conflicted feelings over last class. I felt like I was in the same boat as Anne. I agree that there should be a better way to realize injustice than relating to ourself, but also, learnig is so much more worthwhile when you can use your own experiences to understand something. Isn't that why we want "diverse" classrooms? So we can learn from everybody's experiences? Being in a class with 11 other people who are exactly like you would be extremely boring. That's why this 360 is so much fun! That being said, he experiences of my peers aren't valid only because we are in the same class or we are al Bryn Mawr students. However, I think there is a difference between understanding and validating. So maybe Pratt only came to the understanding of the struggles of people of color becaue of her "similar" experience of being a lesbian, which is cool. But it is only if she validates the experinces of people of color with her own experiences is when it is a problem. For example:
Pratt is speaking to a black woman. The black woman is speaking about housing inquality. Pratt thinks about her own struggles as a lesbian finding housing. Pratt does not say "I've faced my own injustices as a lesbian. I know just how you feel!" Instead, Pratt says "That sounds awful. I don't know how you feel, becasue I am not black, but I will do my best to do xyz to help." But the way Pratt came to that is trough personal experience. I find that acceptable.
But I recognize that I can be a big softie. After Dimentions of Diversity (DoD), the program that Kate was talking about, somebody else who did the program came to me and said that they were struggling. Let's say this person's name is Lisa. Lisa met a lot of cool people during DoD who were not straight, and thought that these people were really cool. However, Lisa did not believe that is is okay to be gay. But she wanted to, and she wanted to think more like me about it. But it just wasn't happening. And I told Lisa (in probably more words, because I can be really long winded), "You have to be respectful, no exceptions. But if you need more time to process 'gayness' in your head, take it. Because it took me a long tme to get to the place where I am now, so it's okay for you to take more time. You started later than me, so you might reach that point later." Is that wrong? Am I doing social justice wrong for allowing people time to change their minds? ( To a certain limit, of course. Terrorizing an entire campus community does not count as respectful)
I don't know anymore. I feel like that is me being too trusting and optimistic. I've been called naive before, but it was my brother who said it so I didn't think it actually counted. But now with everything that has gone on around campus, I feel clueless. I never thought that Bryn Mawr students would put up a confederate flag and a mason-dixon line. Is that partially my fault, for giving people time to come to an understanding? Maybe. I no longer feel clueless, but that has just brought on feelings of being jaded. I never thought it would happen. But now I don't want to give people time to understand why the confederate flag is awful. So now I want to rethink what I wrote before about taking time. But at the same time I still feel that way. I'm confused.
Also, can I raise my hand in class? I know we decided against it, but I've found that it's so much easier for me to participate in classes when I've been able to do it. Nobody has to call on me, but it's a nice marker to me that means "I have something to say but I also really want to hear the rest of your thought." And it doesn't mean that class has to be more formal. I often raise my hand in informal settings, i.e. with my family and while hanging out with friends. Thoughts?