Stanley Mui , Period 5, 3/1/21, Day B

What are your thoughts and feelings about issues of inequity, oppression, and/or power?

    Today, there are many issues regarding inequality, oppression, and power in the United States of America. Recently as we all know, we have just transitioned into a new presidential administration. However, this change in power for the presidents did not pass on as smoothly with the storming of the capitol in early January. On January 6th, supporters for the former president stormed the capitol to delay and change the outcome of the election that he lost. Supporters broke into the capitol building damaging federal property and putting our democracy at risk. After the whole aftermath, many white supremacist groups were identified behind the breach of our nation’s capital. This shows the power that these White Americans have that they could storm the capitol with such little resistance from the federal authorities. In addition to all of this, President Trump in an attempt to stop the violence refused to send the national guard and sent a Twitter video telling the people that he loved them. The former president’s support of these groups only further divided America, instead of uniting it as an entire nation. This response is completely different when comparing the black lives matter protests during the summer because of police brutality of African Americans. On Twitter, the former president described the protesters as looters and rioters even though many of them were peaceful. His responses on Twitter show the double standard shown between African Americans and White Americans. The black lives matter protesters were punished by the police, while the people who stormed the capitol took selfies with the police officers. We can address these problems by not judging people by their physical appearance, and we should give people the opportunities to succeed. Giving minority groups fair and equal treatment is one of the first steps to solve the issues of oppression and power. As an entire nation, we should come together instead of dividing amongst ourselves because of political differences. For these reasons, the issues of inequity, oppression, and power in America are a problem that we as Americans need to address.

How do you reflect critically on your own beliefs, assumptions, values, and experiences, and how these can influence your perception of self and others?

    As I reflect on my own beliefs, assumptions, values, and experiences, I still have a lot to learn and educate myself about how I perceive others. Even though I have made improvements, I still find myself listening to stereotypes and making assumptions about other people. I sometimes judge people on how they look before talking to them which is something that I need to fix. This is something that I have to improve on because as a growing society, we need to be accepting of many groups of people regardless of what their beliefs are. Likewise, as a society, we should be open to listening to different opinions and ideas from multiple people. It is important to listen to multiple sources and opinions because being arrogant and stubborn causes more separation than unification. It is also important to listen to multiple unbiased sources of information because it can influence the beliefs of other people so it is important to hear the entire story. Then again, it is fine for individuals to disagree with each other but, creating violence because of these disagreements should never be the way to resolve a situation. People should come together, listen to what other people have to say, and come up with a resolution together. Educating yourself in any given situation is always better than following what other people are doing. Having the knowledge and educating yourself ensures that you are making the correct choice in how you perceive others. Thus, it is important to listen and educate yourself before judging people because of their gender, race, age, and religious beliefs.