Carolyn Lee, Period 2, 2/13/23

 Modern Mythology 2023 - Socio-political Consciousness

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

Issues of inequity, oppression, and/or power are always present no matter how many times it is addressed or how loud people make their statements. One of the biggest issues of our current society is the lack of people who are in power and have the resources to make changes actually willing to help those in need. The individuals who have those benefits are usually greedy, letting strength and money get to their heads. Compared to them, most people like myself are powerless. With so many human desires, there simply aren't enough selfless individuals to fulfill everyone’s wishes. 

Even on a smaller scale, a scale that doesn’t have to do with money or political power, inequity exists. For example, I’ve witnessed countless times of older Chinese men and women who cannot speak English well, be glared at or judged by strangers. Even people like waiters whose jobs are to treat these people as fair customers. They judge these older men and women simply because of a language barrier; like they’re on a high horse solely because they can speak the nation’s main language and the elderly cannot. 

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

Honestly, although I've always been aware of social issues, growing up I’ve never been active when it came to social justice. It wasn’t until the pandemic when I really started to be conscious of all these issues surrounding me and my community, both in and out of the minority groups I am a part of. I began to question why people are so quick to judge and assume the worst about others. Why do people automatically believe unjustified and hurtful claims about a community as if they can’t think for themselves? Why do these people then use these judgements as a means to act violently against others who are in a weaker position? Of course, it’s relieving to know activist groups rose up to counter these attacks. For example, the BLM (Black Lives Matter) movement against the murder of George Floyd and the Stop Asian Hate movement following the attacks on elderly Asian people as a result of racist claims of “Asians being the cause of the COVID-19 pandemic.” However, inequity and oppression will forever exist as long as greed exists in human nature. Although in the present day, people are beginning to be more aware of these cries for change, I can only hope for the day major action begins to occur on a larger scale that for now is too far out of my reach.