Vivian Zhou, Period 8, 01/20/2021

 Vivian Zhou, Period 8, 01/20/2021

Modern Mythology 2022

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

Our country has been faced with issues of inequity and oppression. Minority groups had been discriminated against, not allowed to use the same restrooms or water fountains as white people. There had always been the ideal that white people were superior to colored people, allowing them to use colored people as property and labor. Even though the country had made moves towards equality, racism had been more prevalent lately especially with the pandemic. With the start of the pandemic, Asian Americans were targeted since they were believed to be the cause of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hate crimes towards Asian Americans were on the rise. Whenever I go out, my parents will warn me to not stand on the edge of the subway platform, or to not stand in places where it is empty due to the fear that something will happen to me. With the death of George Floyd, the Black Lives Matter Movement was on the rise, making us question where our country was at with equity and equality. For people to leave their prejudice behind, they would have to understand the different cultures around the world and step out of their comfort zones to learn that. Therefore, the media is a big influence on us, since it can change what we think.

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

To reflect critically on my own beliefs, I usually reflect on my biases. Coming from different backgrounds, people usually have different biases, prejudices, and views on the world. To make sure my own views are not hurting someone, I reevaluate what my biases are and how I can become a better person and get rid of the biases I have. My family had different prejudices and biases. I evaluated what may be wrong with these prejudices and enlightened myself and my family on why these thoughts and ideas are wrong. This in a way helps us be better people, but at the same time helps us to strive to become better and more open-minded people. School has helped me become more accustomed to different views. By meeting different people from different cultures and backgrounds every day, I am surrounded with different (and maybe even the same) viewpoints, helping me to expand my knowledge and become more open-minded to opinions that are not the same as my opinions.