Sociocultural Aspects Essays - Chitto Harjo, Muscogee People

Sociocultural Aspects At the beginning of this semester, I went into a classroom without the intentions of it having any impact of my life. What I did not know was that this course held not only a vision for the future but also answers to my past. Growing up, I was influenced by a society that was inhabited almost entirely by whites. For that reason only, I have been completely unaware of any bias or unfair treatment to minority and female students. Because of this upbringing, I found many incidences discussed in class quite unbelievable. However, my views on our society and the educational system have been broadened which leads me to believe that the teachers of the future now have the key to a fair, unbias education for each student that enters the school. I was also fortunate this semester to engage in mentoring a young African-American student named James. Although this assignment was geared toward working with a student from a different culture in order to examine the differences in our lives as well as our values, I think that it was very fortunate for not only my experience but also for the student's experience that we shared so many of the same hurdles growing up. The death of a sibling as well as the experience at multiple schools as ?the new student? are just a few of the ways in which James and I were quite similar. As many people know, dealing with issues like this can be quite hazardous to how a young child develops into a functioning adult. Because James and I are linked based on our past, we were able to share with each other more honestly than we have before. With that, we grew from one another's experiences and found the answers to our past with and through each other. As I said before, the course discussions and lectures that I experienced had a dynamic impact on my personal beliefs and values. Honestly, I hardly ever had an ounce of belief in the books we read and discussed or even the topics brought up for lecture. I would walk out of the classroom each day either upset at the way people in the class viewed the educational system or the way that they portrayed the minority students being treated. I realize now that I was stubborn to the fact that there are societies other than the one I grew up in tat have it far worse than I have ever seen or even imagined. The way that I took the lectures was as a classroom made almost entirely of minority students blaming all of the problems concerning the educational system on the upper middle class. Having grown up in an upper middle class household and neighborhood I felt defensive yet took it upon myself not to verbalize my thoughts, being very concerned that one might take my comment not as defense but a s a prejudice remark. During class discussion I was able to listen to how the other students reflected on racial injustices. When I first listened to what others had to say, I can remember thinking how lucky I was that I did not live as a minority in our society. I have never had to live day to day waking up scared of what might happen to me simply because of my skin color or the things my family takes pride in. However, simply because I was raised among people who were all the same as me and had the same beliefs does not mean that it was always a good thing. In fact, I see a lot of my up bringing completely different now. For example, I was always among people who did not have to watch what they said in effort to avoid offending someone. So, when a racial comment was said among my peers or even my family, I never thought twice about it. I also made comments of my own. I never had to worry about a minority being next to me or within hearing distance so I never considered the consequences of throwing aroun d racial comments. The class time I have spent with everyone has gotten me to realize that