Carina Liu, Period 2, 2/27/23

 Socio-political Consciousness

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

Issues of inequity, oppression, and power are deeply rooted in our society, and something that people have been fighting for for centuries. Through the continuous struggle and efforts of major historical figures who were brave enough to speak up about issues of social and racial injustice, we were able to make major progress throughout history. However, inequity is something that can never fully be prevented or resolved. The seeds of our understanding of justice, and our understanding of right and wrong are part of our biological nature. An experiment was done on babies to find out the natural morals of human beings. Studying babies and infants is significant because they are “perfect” and their morals haven’t been influenced by anything yet. When the babies were shown a puppet show that clearly depicts a good and bad character, ¾ of the babies reached for the good guy. This shows that as young as 3 months old, humans prefer people that are nice. The study doesn’t end there. The babies choose their favorite cereal between two. One cat likes the same snack as them, and the other cat likes the other snack. 87% of the babies preferred the cat that liked the same snack as they did. In addition, when shown a puppet show of the different cat getting punished vs helped, they preferred to see the different cat being punished. This is really interesting as it shows how inequity, power, and hatred is built into our nature. Coming from babies that can’t walk, talk, or even crawl yet suggests that it must come built in. In 2023, we have already come a long way in being conscious about inequality and oppression, but there are still people that are stubborn, and unwilling to change their beliefs. 

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

I grew up in a pretty protective and privileged environment. My whole life I have attended small schools that have a high percentage of asian students. I’ve always felt really comfortable where I am, and a lot of my classmates shared the same interests as me. I never experienced serious discrimination. Honestly, since it didn’t seem to directly affect me, I haven’t done much to advocate for this topic. Only in the beginning of the pandemic did I become more aware of how real racism and discrimination is and that it is happening so close to me. During the height of the pandemic, I heard countless news stories about hate crimes near me, and my parents taught me to be aware of my surroundings and how to defend myself. It was the first time I was scared to go outside, afraid that I would get attacked just for the way I looked. In a few months, I will be going to college, breaking out of my comfortable and familiar circle. In the future, I want to be more active in fighting for change.