The "Human" Response
"I don't see color; I just treat everyone as humans."
I hear this statement all the time. I treat everyone as humans. While it is a perfectly appropriate response -- after all, I'd prefer not to be treated like a dog, a pancake, a rug, a chair, an apple, etc. -- it just doesn't make sense to me. Responding that we should just treat everyone as humans often implies that "I treat everyone as just the same."
Treating me like a human, on one hand, is comforting. I'm happy to know that you will treat me as a thinking, intelligent, moral, able, evolutionarily advanced creature on this planet.
However...
Treating me like a human also ignores all of the uniqueness that makes me who I am. After all, my identity has been shaped by all the unique experiences I have had. At the most general level, I am a mother, wife, and sister. On a slightly more defined level, I am young mother, a working-out-of-the-house wife, and a sister in a large family. On an even more defined level, I am a young mother of three, a working-out-of-the-house wife in an interracial marriage, and a sister in a large family affected by cancer. Each of these levels can be broken down even more. And, each of these levels and these experiences have shaped who I am. Simply treating me like everyone else doesn't speak to the levels that impact how I see the world, how I make decisions, and how I approach situations.
The other day, I hosted a workshop for a group of Stonehill students. And, as expected, this topic came up again. In this context, though, a student asked about the issue of hyphenating the American identity. "Sometimes, people want to be American. But, then those same people say they want to be known as Asian-American or Chinese-American. Why can't they just choose to be American?"
I asked the group to look around the room. In this room, at Stonehill, I asked the group if they could safely assume that everyone here was from Stonehill. "Yes." We agreed that everyone in that room was a Stonehill student. Now, if I asked the group to introduce themselves, it would be unlikely that anyone would start off their personal introduction with "My name is ___, and I am a Stonehill student." We don't have to say we are "Stonehill students" because it's assumed given our location, the time of day, the way people look (average college aged in the room), etc. I then pointed out that there were 4 men in the room and 20 women in the room. I asked, "Is it safe to assume that there are situations in which you are treated differently at Stonehill because you identify as a man or a woman?" Students responded with examples of residence hall room/roommate assignments, bathrooms, single-sex sports teams, etc. While it is my hope that you are all treated equally in terms of encouragement for achievement, opportunities made available to you, classes you can get in to, leadership positions you can apply for, etc., the truth is that you experience some things differently based on how you identify your biological sex.
Now, I'm going to take the leap and assume there is more to know about you than just "you are a Stonehill student" and "you are male or female." I'm also going to take the leap and assume you want to be known as just "the girl in the North Face jacket" or "the guy with the hat on." There is probably more to you than just what you are wearing. I'm going to assume that you all have a first name, a last name, and maybe even a middle name. For some of you, your name is really important to you. If your name is "Jennifer" or "Matt" or "Lindsey" or "John", I'm going to assume that you aren't exactly the same as the other "Jennifer" or "Matt" or "Lindsey" or "John" in the room. In fact, if we were in a room full of people with those names, you might want to distinguish yourself by using your last name or a nickname. We begin to see how, yes, we all started out with something that we had in common -- being Stonehill students -- but that there was more to you than just that piece of information.
Let's assume you are a Stonehill freshman. On the Stonehill campus or at a Stonehill event, you might choose to identify yourself as "Hi, I'm ____. I'm a freshman." Simply saying you are a freshman means something here on our campus. Yet, say you went back to visit some teachers in your old high school. You are approached by a new teacher in your high school, and you introduce yourself as "Hi, I'm ____. I'm a freshman." That context means something at that high school. The teacher might very well assume you are a freshman at that high school. It would be important for you to say, "Hi, I'm ____. I'm a freshman at Stonehill College." Or, maybe you wouldn't even mention Stonehill. Maybe you would say, "Hi, I'm ____. I graduated from this high school in 2009." You as a person haven't changed just in your visit; but, the way you describe yourself has changed based on your surroundings and the context of your identity.
You are still treated like a human while visiting your high school, however your experiences and the way you identify yourself take on new meaning.
Now, let's look at the experience of attending college. As students, you have chosen to go to college. Likely, you have a reason for going to college. At it's most basic level, you must be assuming that there is something different about the experience of going to college vs not going to college. I'm also going to assume that you, in fact, believe that people who do go to college and people who do not go to college are humans. I would hope that all people -- whether they go to college or not -- should be treated as humans. And, yet, there is something different about your experience. Likely, if you were applying for a job, you'd want me to consider the fact that you went to college and that the other applicant did not go to college. You're both humans, yet there is something different about your experiences. I'd even guess that you'd want me to treat your application different from the application of someone who did not go to college. I certainly would hire the best person for the job, and you'd probably want me to take into account that there is a benefit I get from you as a college graduate.
The list of examples and definitions can go on and on. At the heart of it is this: we should always treat one another with respect, courtesy, and as if we are intelligent and wise. No matter if you went to college, if you are male or female, if you are black or white, or if you are tall or short -- we are united by the common bond of humanity. Yet, within our own identities, we have a diversity of experiences that have shaped who we are, decisions we make, and situations we encounter. To only treat one another as generic humans means we fail to see the other layers of who we are and who we have become. There is certainly nothing wrong with wanting to make the more important layers of our identity visible to others. And, there is nothing wrong with treating one another as if the layers they share have impacted who they are as people.
Treat me like a human who is made up of many layers. See what makes me different from you. See what makes me the same as you. And, together we can make our world a much more interesting place.
February 11, 2010
February 4, 2010
Black History Month
reflection from Joniece:
This was my first year attending the Black History Month Convocation. This is not because I did not want to go before, but Liza and Donna would always seem to plan their events while I was in class. I enjoyed listening to the stories of the other students and faculty members that were speaking. I really appreciated that some students came out to hear our stories, give us their attention, and ask meaningful questions.
Convocation got me thinking about what Black History Month really means to Stonehill. I have often heard from naysayers that there should not even be a black history month, but I feel like it is important. There are many black people that did a lot of good for the world and for other black people. The same people that made it possible for me to be go to school and gave me the ability to be writing this blog response. I was surprised that the room was filled because attendance at black history month events is not always the greatest.
I can recall during my junior year when the cafe decided that they would be celebrating black history month. For them this meant barbeque ribs and fried chicken and a sign that read “come celebrate black history month.’ I have to admit I did find it amusing, I actually laughed for the rest of the month but once I got past the amusement I was upset. Is that really all that they think of black people, and they had the nerve to serve Sushi the next day. Some celebration!
…TO BE CONTINUED
This was my first year attending the Black History Month Convocation. This is not because I did not want to go before, but Liza and Donna would always seem to plan their events while I was in class. I enjoyed listening to the stories of the other students and faculty members that were speaking. I really appreciated that some students came out to hear our stories, give us their attention, and ask meaningful questions.
Convocation got me thinking about what Black History Month really means to Stonehill. I have often heard from naysayers that there should not even be a black history month, but I feel like it is important. There are many black people that did a lot of good for the world and for other black people. The same people that made it possible for me to be go to school and gave me the ability to be writing this blog response. I was surprised that the room was filled because attendance at black history month events is not always the greatest.
I can recall during my junior year when the cafe decided that they would be celebrating black history month. For them this meant barbeque ribs and fried chicken and a sign that read “come celebrate black history month.’ I have to admit I did find it amusing, I actually laughed for the rest of the month but once I got past the amusement I was upset. Is that really all that they think of black people, and they had the nerve to serve Sushi the next day. Some celebration!
…TO BE CONTINUED
January 20, 2010
And, We Are Back!
On behalf of the Office of Intercultural Affairs, I hope that our readers had a restful and relaxing winter break. For those of you just joining us, this blog is maintained by our fantastic work study students who have the task of writing reflective entries about race and diversity. For the most part, the entries are not edited for content nor structure. Since this blog represents the "voice" of our students, we believe in the honesty and integrity of the entries.
So, we hope you continue to follow our students as they write about their personal experiences and reflections! Happy new year, and welcome to the Spring semester!
Peace,
Liza Talusan, Director of Intercultural Affairs
Joniece is a senior at Stonehill. She is the Chair of the Diversity Committee (Student Government Association) and an active member of the community. She is a 2nd year Resident Assistant.
From Joniece:
How do stereotypes of black women effect the way we raise black girls?
People are defined by what they do and not always by who they really are. My experiences and social situations have shaped not only who I am but also who I am becoming. Over time, I have realized that society plays a major role in many of the significant decisions that I have made in my life. Due to personal experience, being a Black Lower Middle class female has its advantages and disadvantages based on the environment that I may be in at any given time. Because of my appearance I am required to answer questions that not everyone has to answer, and oftentimes I find myself defending who I am not only to people that do not look like me, but also to people that look like me.
Because I am a black woman, oftentimes other black people expect me to fall into some sort of “statistic” and have children now if not sooner. When I see people from high school or even in the past when I have met guys, one of their first questions to me is “how many kids do you have?” I feel very insulted when I hear this question. It seems as if people group all black females from Roxbury into a single category and assume that we are all pregnant or already have children. I have heard from different males that I know in Boston that girls from Roxbury have a bad reputation. It seems that it is thought that all of us are very sexually advanced and will just have sex with anyone. Since I am nothing like any of the stereotypes described I still do not like that this is sometimes the first impression that people will have of me. This could also possibly hinder someone from getting to know who I really am outside of the negative views of girls that live in proximity to me. I have found that when I initially meet other black people, presumably males, I do not immediately tell them where I live. I let them get to know who I am first and then I disclose the appropriate information. This allows people to base their views of me on my personality and they type of person that I am.
So, we hope you continue to follow our students as they write about their personal experiences and reflections! Happy new year, and welcome to the Spring semester!
Peace,
Liza Talusan, Director of Intercultural Affairs
Joniece is a senior at Stonehill. She is the Chair of the Diversity Committee (Student Government Association) and an active member of the community. She is a 2nd year Resident Assistant.
From Joniece:
How do stereotypes of black women effect the way we raise black girls?
People are defined by what they do and not always by who they really are. My experiences and social situations have shaped not only who I am but also who I am becoming. Over time, I have realized that society plays a major role in many of the significant decisions that I have made in my life. Due to personal experience, being a Black Lower Middle class female has its advantages and disadvantages based on the environment that I may be in at any given time. Because of my appearance I am required to answer questions that not everyone has to answer, and oftentimes I find myself defending who I am not only to people that do not look like me, but also to people that look like me.
Because I am a black woman, oftentimes other black people expect me to fall into some sort of “statistic” and have children now if not sooner. When I see people from high school or even in the past when I have met guys, one of their first questions to me is “how many kids do you have?” I feel very insulted when I hear this question. It seems as if people group all black females from Roxbury into a single category and assume that we are all pregnant or already have children. I have heard from different males that I know in Boston that girls from Roxbury have a bad reputation. It seems that it is thought that all of us are very sexually advanced and will just have sex with anyone. Since I am nothing like any of the stereotypes described I still do not like that this is sometimes the first impression that people will have of me. This could also possibly hinder someone from getting to know who I really am outside of the negative views of girls that live in proximity to me. I have found that when I initially meet other black people, presumably males, I do not immediately tell them where I live. I let them get to know who I am first and then I disclose the appropriate information. This allows people to base their views of me on my personality and they type of person that I am.
December 1, 2009
On racism in advertisements and the Diversity Poster Campaign:
Michelle says:
A lot of time we focus on racism in the United States, because we live there but there is a lot of racism worldwide. In the promotional ad for Couples Retreat the version shown in the United States has four couples, one of them happens to be a black couple. As I signed out of Yahoo! After checking my e-mail I noticed a story that caught my eye, it said “Universal's UK 'Couples Retreat' Poster Brings Cries of Racism by Removing Black Actors” and I screamed I knew it! In the ad of the UK’s Couple Retreat there were only three couples, not four and the one couple missing was the black couple. This made me think of my Nigerian friend Monisola who used to tell me she faced racist people in London when she used to go to for school vacations. The fact that the UK removed the black couple shows that the world is still very closed minded and racist. Just when you think the world is becoming better and we have one more ally more negativity seems to spread across the world. I happened to be talking about it, living as a person who can be seen as a person of color truly is a challenge. Walking into a classroom every day and not knowing whether the people there are going to judge me for my knowledge or for my skin color. A friend of mine always says she has to give double the effort and participate in all her classes so that people will begin to respect for her intelligence and not look at her as she is just part of the college because she is Latina. At times, I feel like I have to speak up to prove a point in which I am an intelligent Latina student and I made it to college based on my smarts. There are times were I do not say anything because I am not a representation of my race, and every person can be judged and viewed at their own level and I should not be trying to prove a point, because waking up every day and having to deal with the world’s most ignorant people is a work on its own.
Joniece writes about the Diversity Poster Campaign
On Tuesday November 17, 2009 the Diversity Committee held its first discussion for the Awareness Campaign. The poster campaign was developed by the original Diversity Committee and was a way for them to actively raise awareness not only about the committee but also surrounding issues of diversity and inclusiveness. The committee is still in its early stages of development and so we are working to bring about knowledge of the committee’s purpose. I was thrilled to see both familiar and unfamiliar faces in attendance at the discussion. A lot of good points were raised and the discussion could have gone on for hours.
Some topics that were heavily discussed were interracial dating, stereotypes, and the culture of Stonehill students. These discussion points either caught someone’s eye, or gave the people in attendance a lot to speak of.
We were initially having issues with the topics expressed in some of the posters one dealing with explaining diversity to a blind person. It was brought to our attention and some may have felt that the poster “had a negative connotation about what blind people can comprehend and understand simply because they are visually impaired. Those who are visually impaired can certainly understand and interpret diversity in their own way without someone having to describe it to them. The question makes it sound like blind people are “less than” or not as smart as someone who is not visually impaired.” Although this is very true, some of the committee members felt that the question was given a negative connotation and it is up to the reader to think about how the question may make them feel. We were definitely not implying that the blind are less than in any way. We were more thinking about the racial aspect to the question. Many people see race as a color so how do you really describe this to someone without giving them examples or representation to support your ideas.
Michelle says:
A lot of time we focus on racism in the United States, because we live there but there is a lot of racism worldwide. In the promotional ad for Couples Retreat the version shown in the United States has four couples, one of them happens to be a black couple. As I signed out of Yahoo! After checking my e-mail I noticed a story that caught my eye, it said “Universal's UK 'Couples Retreat' Poster Brings Cries of Racism by Removing Black Actors” and I screamed I knew it! In the ad of the UK’s Couple Retreat there were only three couples, not four and the one couple missing was the black couple. This made me think of my Nigerian friend Monisola who used to tell me she faced racist people in London when she used to go to for school vacations. The fact that the UK removed the black couple shows that the world is still very closed minded and racist. Just when you think the world is becoming better and we have one more ally more negativity seems to spread across the world. I happened to be talking about it, living as a person who can be seen as a person of color truly is a challenge. Walking into a classroom every day and not knowing whether the people there are going to judge me for my knowledge or for my skin color. A friend of mine always says she has to give double the effort and participate in all her classes so that people will begin to respect for her intelligence and not look at her as she is just part of the college because she is Latina. At times, I feel like I have to speak up to prove a point in which I am an intelligent Latina student and I made it to college based on my smarts. There are times were I do not say anything because I am not a representation of my race, and every person can be judged and viewed at their own level and I should not be trying to prove a point, because waking up every day and having to deal with the world’s most ignorant people is a work on its own.
Joniece writes about the Diversity Poster Campaign
On Tuesday November 17, 2009 the Diversity Committee held its first discussion for the Awareness Campaign. The poster campaign was developed by the original Diversity Committee and was a way for them to actively raise awareness not only about the committee but also surrounding issues of diversity and inclusiveness. The committee is still in its early stages of development and so we are working to bring about knowledge of the committee’s purpose. I was thrilled to see both familiar and unfamiliar faces in attendance at the discussion. A lot of good points were raised and the discussion could have gone on for hours.
Some topics that were heavily discussed were interracial dating, stereotypes, and the culture of Stonehill students. These discussion points either caught someone’s eye, or gave the people in attendance a lot to speak of.
We were initially having issues with the topics expressed in some of the posters one dealing with explaining diversity to a blind person. It was brought to our attention and some may have felt that the poster “had a negative connotation about what blind people can comprehend and understand simply because they are visually impaired. Those who are visually impaired can certainly understand and interpret diversity in their own way without someone having to describe it to them. The question makes it sound like blind people are “less than” or not as smart as someone who is not visually impaired.” Although this is very true, some of the committee members felt that the question was given a negative connotation and it is up to the reader to think about how the question may make them feel. We were definitely not implying that the blind are less than in any way. We were more thinking about the racial aspect to the question. Many people see race as a color so how do you really describe this to someone without giving them examples or representation to support your ideas.
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