Sophia Liu, Period 2, 2/28/23

 Socio-political Consciousness:

Issues of inequity, oppression, and power have certainly improved over time as awareness spreads and generational stigma changes but to say that these issues don’t exist anymore is absurd. These issues such as racism and gender inequality certainly still exist today and it sometimes feels like the US is progressing backward rather than forwards. Roe v Wade 1971 recently overturned in Dobbs v Jackson last year no longer protects one’s right to have an abortion and is now up to the state’s discretion. The overturning of Roe v Wade will arise other issues as the protection of same-sex marriage, interracial marriage, and purchase of contraceptions may now be at risk. It is scary to think about the future as the decisions are made by predominantly white Christian men whose values may not reflect the majority of the people of the United States. This decision impacts everyone regardless of gender whether it’d be you, a family member, or someone you know. Personally, I would’ve never imagined that these rights be taken away because I believed that it should be up to the individual and their decision what to do with their body. These restrictions on abortion are a setback and may ruin many people’s lives if they are forced to keep a child they were not capable of raising or result from traumatic events. There really is nothing impactful I can do right now to create change until I am the age to vote.

The issue of racism has been deeply rooted in the United States with slavery, immigration, and past events. The Japanese internment camps, Jim Crow laws, Trump’s US-Mexico wall proposal, Asian-American hate crimes, and the list goes on. These issues of inequality shouldn’t exist but it does and is hard to change. Growing up I have been exposed to racism mostly through the mocking of my language and culture. Although it didn’t happen frequently, it still left an impression on me since most of these comments were from white males my age. I found myself thinking that I was inferior to them and was ashamed that I was in fact different and Chinese. Embracing my own identity and culture is a stepping stone I have to go through to realize that my culture is something I should be proud of. The color of one’s skin shouldn’t dictate your perception of them as they are born with it and isn’t something that can be changed. More recently, witnessing people mocking other cultures irritated me as the comments they were making were uncalled for. They were people from this school who were of Asian descent as well. I thought that they would know better as this is a “specialized” high school after all. The fact that they were also a minority and may know how it feels to experience racism made it worse for me to grasp why they said such comments even if it was supposed to be a “joke”. However, these could have just been my assumptions; they might have been lucky and privileged enough to not experience these issues at all. Thinking back, I should’ve said something but I didn’t. Moving forward, all I can do right now is have an open mind and be mindful of my own words and actions toward others.