Morgan Lee, Period 1, 09/29/2023

Socio-political Consciousness

• CHOOSE a topic below and discuss your thoughts and feelings:
• Current topics around inequity, oppression, and/or power.
• Current events that incite strong feelings in you.

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

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Morgan Lee, Period 1, 9/29/2023, Modern Mythology 2024



Socio-political Consciousness



Rights.


It seems like such a simple word doesn’t it? Such an easy concept to understand.


It’s fundamental to this country’s origin, its birth. Our Founding Fathers declared independence because they felt that their rights were infringed upon. They then took it upon themselves to make the Constitution, a document that would ensure equal rights for all residing in this country (except for black people, women, and poor people, aren’t we already off to a great start?).


Growing up in a middle-class family in New York City, I never really felt my rights being violated. I was fortunate enough to not have to face the hardships and inequalities of this country. But as I grew older, my worldview expanded, and I started to notice the faults in our system. I saw how some people have to work tirelessly just to keep themselves afloat, I noticed how women are treated by men just for wearing a dress, I noticed how black people are treated differently compared to white people. While I had never felt these inequalities firsthand, I began to wonder how our government could be letting all of this happen, while they prided themselves on providing equal rights for all.


This brings me back to my original point about rights. As we’ve all learned in any basic social studies course, rights include being able to vote, being able to practice one’s faith, being able to speak freely, and being able to express ourselves however we please. Thankfully, the scope of these rights have also been expanded since the 1700s to include people of color and women. In theory, everyone, regardless of gender, ethnicity, race, religion, and class should be treated equally. Essentially, everyone should have the freedom to live as themselves without fear of being seen as “less than” or even harmed, but that's clearly not what I observed in reality.


As I witnessed the inequality all around me, I sympathized with those being treated unfairly and would even find myself trying to educate myself better on their issues. The #MeToo movement and the BLM movement allowed me to become more knowledgeable about the injustices of this world, and yet, I have yet to truly understand them myself. Until I saw people like me have their rights restricted.


Something about me, I am a Queer person, a very hotly discussed group in today’s socio-political climate. Unfortunately, most of the press I see about my community doesn’t have the most positive content. While the community on the whole does face prejudice, I will be focusing specifically on the attacks on the rights of queer youth and will be speaking from my own point of view.


I figured out I was queer when I was in 7th grade, and ever since then, it has been a journey of trying to figure out my identity and trying to live as my most authentic self. It has not, and still isn’t an easy part of my life to navigate. Even though I am not out to my parents, school has provided a sort of sanctuary for me, where I could use the pronouns and names that I am the most comfortable with, where teachers would respect and validate how I feel, where my friends can be there to support me every step of the way. So imagine how I felt when I saw that kids like me were having their rights stripped away.


When I first saw the news that book bans were being instated in certain states, specifically targeting books that have queer themes, I was shocked. This act directly infringes on the right of freedom of speech, and it can also directly harm a kid's well-being. The reason that these books were banned was because they were seen as “sexual” and “provocative” and “inappropriate” to young kids. This reasoning is fundamentally flawed, these books only push a theme of acceptance and respecting other people’s identity, which ties into the First Amendment, which allows free expression. The people banning these books don’t seem to understand this fact. Instead, they are only focused on keeping things the way they are, instead of trying to expand their worldview. Furthermore, these books can have a very significant impact to a young queer person. Seeing themselves represented in characters, making LGBTQ+ people more normalized in society, can make them more confident and sure in themselves. These books help to reduce self-doubt and anxiety, and these lawmakers are ignoring the well-being of the queer youth in their states.


It didn’t stop there, I remember waking up one morning and reading the news on my phone when an article popped up about the state of Florida. It stated that if a student requested to use different pronouns or a different name than the ones they were assigned at birth, teachers would be mandated to inform the child’s parents. This was infuriating, to say the least. I imagined how I would react if I was put in that situation, as both a teacher and a student. As a teacher, I wouldn’t be able to have a clear conscience. A student trusted me enough to tell me a piece of information that was very important to them, one that they may not have even told their parents, whether that be because they are still too scared, or that they know that their parents wouldn’t be accepting, or other reasons. I would then be expected to, by law, immediately betray that trust and turn around and tell their parents, who, as mentioned previously, may not be accepting and mistreat their child because of that. As a student, I would immediately feel betrayed. I may have felt safe enough to express myself at school, but maybe not at home. Having a trusted adult out me to my parents who I didn’t want knowing would cause a whole slew of issues. My parents may treat me differently, they could be disappointed, lash out at me, or generally react negatively towards that information. As a child, I would feel less inclined to trust adults in my life, which can lead to problems down the line with authority figures. You can see that this law would have negative effects on all parties involved.


So why are politicians enacting these policies? They want everyone to conform to their ideals and what they see as “normal” and “right.” In doing so, they infringe on individual rights of self-expression, self-determination, and privacy. It doesn’t matter that the people being harmed by these acts are minors, they have as much as a right to these principles as long as they aren’t harming anyone or themselves, which they aren’t. These kids are just trying to live as themselves and these politicians are taking away this freedom. The politicians claim that they are trying to “protect the kids,” while in fact, they are doing the exact opposite. These politicians are afraid of viewpoints other than their own, they don’t really care about the kids, they care about keeping control, and they are using the children as the foundation of their flawed arguments. As long as the politicians still control the narrative and stay in positions of power, the children are just a means to an end.


Once again, I feel fortunate to live in New York City, one of the most progressive cities in the world. As certain parts of the country become more and more dangerous for people like me, I can sleep knowing that I will be relatively safe expressing myself in the way that makes me feel the most comfortable and validated. But everyday, I wonder what my life would be like if I was born in another state. Would I be able to live true to myself? Would I be persecuted just because I like to dress a certain way? Will I be harassed for presenting in a way that isn’t seen as “traditional”? Growing up in an environment like that, would I even be able to accept myself and my identity? Or would I grapple and struggle internally with myself, without even being able to ask people I trust about such a taboo topic?


This whole situation makes me reflect internally, no one is perfect, we all have biases and preconceived notions of groups of people that we see as different to ourselves. Learning about them is the best way to prevent the situations that I have mentioned from happening. If these politicians had properly educated themselves, they would realize the harm that they are inducing on queer youth within their states. If everyone took time to learn about others, instead of making and acting on unfounded assumptions, we could all get along better. At the end of the day, everyone is just trying to live their lives without other people judging them and punishing them for being themselves. Essentially, everyone deserves to have equal rights, yet inherent biases prevent this.