What I mean is that they don't understand how good they have it or how privileged they are. I totally understand that few people get to experience the same perspective as I do, but many interactions with people this year have prompted me to wonder how he or she would survive at Richmond High. Specifically, I'm talking about the people who make absolute fools out of themselves - usually while drinking - and perpetuating a stereotype for white people.
I just got back from a trip to Napa Valley for a birthday party, and don't get me wrong, I enjoy drinking - wine especially - but I do not enjoy sharing the experience with someone who is a selfish mess. I think I'm very easily embarrassed by my peers, and somehow these days, if the person is white, I almost feel more ashamed than anything else. It's strange when the working world and the weekend world clash, and as the limo drove through Richmond on the way to Napa, I couldn't help but to realize how none of the drunk people around me knew what the community that we were passing through was like. Nor did they care, or even know where we were. For a split second I pictured us as we were, riding a party limo through Richmond, and at once I was glad we were not stopping because of the image we were setting for all white people.
I don't know if I ever wrote about it, but at the beginning of the year, I believe my students enter their classes with a belief or a fraction of a belief that in general, white people don't care about them. Many of the "white" teachers they have had are only white in relative terms; they are half Latino, or the white teachers they did have truly sucked and arguably didn't care too much about them. Needless to say, there's always some conversation that comes up about their interpretation of white people and it's usually connected with the idea of having money. It weird, because them saying this typically makes me a little proud that I'm making a mere teacher's salary. They were pretty appalled to find out that I didn't own my own house. But to be fair, when I was in high school, I never understood the whole idea of living with a roommate either.
Anyway, the party today was just too many white people that fit the stereotype mold. Is it weird to say that? I feel like this is the first time I have really been aware of my own race. I've always understood the idea of racial identity, but when it gets talked about, it's usually about minority groups. I guess spending every day in a community with a totally flipped demographic makes me hypersensitive to the impressions people make that are representative of white people in general. I don't know what conclusions should be made, but here are my observations. There are countless people in this world who are hopelessly ignorant, and countless more who take things like money for granted. The majority of people I hang out with in a social setting are white people. Therefore, the people who in my mind "just don't get it" are typically white people.
I've realized that I really value the perspective I've taken from my job, and truly respect others that take the time to view the world through someone else's eyes. But you know, some people don't look for that in their life, and it might be because they don't care, or it might be because they don't know what they're missing. I'm trying to assume the best intentions, so let's say it's the latter.
I believe that this country would be a way better place if everyone had to do some form of service at the beginning of their career. Perspective is a crazy thing.
No comments:
Post a Comment