Social Justice

The site known as Urban Dictionary defines social justice as “Promoting tolerance, freedom, and equality for all people regardless of race, sex, orientation, national origin, handicap, etc... except for white, straight, cisgendered males. Fuck those guys, they're overprivileged no matter what” (Urban Dictionary). I think this website is a little pretentious but I do think they are on to something here. They are using sarcasm of course but I think that white people are discriminated against as well. The article I read was from a book called “Teaching Diversity and Social Justice”.

             I went to Warden High school and all the years I was there, I definitely felt discriminated against. That area has a large Mexican population. Being a minority was hard because I was not “one of them”. I didn’t have to live with the things they lived with and the hardships they have. But they didn’t know me. They didn’t know what I had been through. Because I was white, I was judged immediately. I was separated with the other white kids. I know that not all of people of different races thought like that. I had friends that were Mexican and we got a long as if there is no difference between us, which we are all humans. We all have problems and we are all human beings. Just because we may have different colored skin or are different race does not mean that I am any better than anyone just because I am white.

     I think as a society we need to get over this “thing” of race. In The Merchant of Venice, Shylock makes a very astute observation. He says, “Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? Fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that” (Act III, Scene I). But is Shylock, the Jew, not right? Some are treated differently because of race or sex. Some because of what they believe but we are all humans. We all have feelings and we will die if we are injured.

     I feel like in order to implement social justice, we must be willing to let go of differences and treat all of our kids the same. We must be open minded to the way they think and to their opinions. It is not easy but as teachers we must overcome our differences. We live in a vast world that works with so many different people with different background and I think it is important for our students to learn that.