Growing up, my schooling was a very undiverse universe–but not in the way you’d think. My middle school was over 80% black, and my high school was around 70% black. I grew up in a well educated home and from a young age was taught to be blind to race despite what my classmates said or did. When we would have black history assemblies and the school would play the African-American national anthem, hardly any of the white students would stand. A mutual disrespect for other races was the norm, and no one in the schools or communities did much to stop it.
Coming to UNC, I stayed in my comfort zone. I joined a fraternity, and while we have several African-American, Asian, and Indian members, diversity was more of just a joke about Hasil’s eating habits, or Daniel and Saiji looking alike. Of course it was all in good spirit, but still very insensitive. This class however has easily left my eyes open a little wider. I see media stories dealing with race in a much different light, and I can clearly see distinctions in the way some folks are treated over others.
I have to say that this class has changed very little about the way I act. I’ve never been a racist, or discriminatory. I mean that. It has however changed how I perceive others in the world, which I think was a much needed change, and one that a lot of people could use. Going through my time here blindly towards how race affects my everyday life was a mistake, and I’m pretty glad I’ve opened my eyes.
