The Art of the Essay

For every student who has went through extremely complicated and trivial process of college admission, he or she will remember there is a question under the “demographics” section of the Common Application – “which describes your race or origin.”  Although it’s clearly stated that this question is optional and “no information you provide will be used in a discriminatory manner,” many students still try to optimize their opportunities to get admitted by manipulating their answers.  After all, if race question has no influence on admission officers’ decision making, why did they put it there?  Besides, many universities and colleges’ special emphasis on campus diversity make many high school students and their parents want to ask – are some races more desirable in terms of diversity than others?

Natasha Scott, a high school senior of mixed races posted her personal conflict on College Confidential – “I just realized that my race is something I have to think about.  It pains me to say this, but will putting down black help my admission chance and putting down Asian hurt it?”  As expected, nobody recommended Natasha to identify herself as Asian alone.  On her applications, Natasha marked only one box: black.  “I think that when you’re a stressed out high school senior, you’ll do anything that’s legal to get into college,” she said, “I must admit that I felt a little guilty only putting black because I was purposely denying a part of myself in order to look like a more appealing college candidate.”  Natasha is not the only case.  According to Haverford College’s new study, “nearly all of the students who do not self-identify their race on their admission applications are white.”  Worrying about their backgrounds of majority, many students simply skip every optional question that will reveal their races.

Now, the question is, how much weight will a student’s race take on his or her college applications?  Chris Munoz, vice president of enrollment at Rice since 2006, concluded when an admission committee encounter students with equally qualifying academic records, it’s the time committee members may say – “this kid has a Spanish surname.  Let’s see what he wrote about.”  Every year, for thousands of applicants who seem to be indistinguishable for college officers, their races will break the balance.  Mr. Munoz defended for admission committee that “they did not do it in an intentional way, but it’s just the reality.”  There is no doubt that students’ stories about their ethnic backgrounds and how underrepresented is one group in a college will influence, greatly or slightly, on the college’s final decision.

Realizing that some students incline to employ some justifiable tricks, Rice University tried to comply with the situation by asking “the unique life experiences and cultural traditions” in its supplement as an addition to race question, but still, by asking “unique cultural traditions,” students’ ethnic backgrounds play their roles in admission process.  Nobody will deny the importance and value of diversity in universities and colleges.  Diversity in real life can broaden students’ perspective on the world and enrich their personal experiences during college.  However, does all these benefits outweigh some small, random advantages some students may take over others?  During an online survey, 65 % people agree that race should absolutely have nothing to do with college admissions.  Only 16 % people agree that it’s important for colleges to have information to help them create a diverse student body.

It’s commonly accepted in U.S. that college admission process is like inside a black box and will never be a fair game, but race question has raised the unfairness to another level.  After high school students had worked so hard to maintain their academically competitive grades, took SAT or ACT tests for several times to finally obtain a good score, struggled about teachers’ recommendation letters, and spent plenty of time in extracurricular activities, they suddenly realized that their races, something they were born with and impossible to change, might have influence on their dream schools’ decision.

Work Cited

Just the other day, I had The Conversation for about the one-thousandth time.

What ARE you?

What? Are you asking me where I’m from?

Yeah, where are you from?

I’m from Atlanta.

No, like, where are you REALLY from?

Atlanta.

No, like, where are your PARENTS from?

My parents are from China.

Oh…. ok.

As an Asian American female, I have found myself in this situation so many times. At first when I had these Conversations, I was usually half exasperated and half annoyed. The unknowing stranger would think that just because my features are not American, I must not be American. That I did not grow up eating burgers and fries, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in class everyday, or knowing the first rules of football or baseball. That just because of my appearance, I was somehow less American than my fellow neighbor. Part of me was always annoyed. On the surface, I smiled and said that I am Chinese. But on the inside, I threw imaginary balls of fire at them and screamed, “I AM CHINESE. WHY ARE YOU IGNORANT.”

However, I can’t blame them. I understand where they are coming from. Truthfully, most of the unknowing strangers I have had The Conversation with are probably just curious. They see a different appearance and wonder where I could possibly be from. That curiosity drives those unknowing strangers to question and to probe until they get interesting answers. A Chinese kid who was born in the local hospital and went to the school down the street from you for your entire life is not as interesting as a Chinese kid who was born and bred in China and is now studying abroad in America.

I get it. The unknown and the different fascinate us all. I myself have to admit that I have been the unknowing stranger at times. I have asked the ignorant questions as well. However, having been on both sides has taught me to not take The Conversation too seriously. The unknowing strangers mean no harm. After all, they are unknowing. Some might simply be curious, and others might actually be ignorant. And whether or not they are one or the other, the least we can do (and by “we” I mean not just my fellow Asians, but all minorities alike) is just to have The Conversation, inform our unknowing strangers about our individual cultures politely, and learn to not be offended and to not take their ignorance too seriously. I have learned that I cannot just expect someone to know that I am Chinese just by looking at me. Not only would I be asking them to unreasonably read my mind, but I would also be allowing stereotypes to rule their thought processes. For example, a common stereotype is that Chinese people are especially good at Math. However, if the unknowing stranger were to see me be good at Math and use that as direct evidence to prove that I am Chinese, the stereotype that Chinese people are good at Math would just be accepted and perpetuated. Over time, I have learned to not take The Conversation so personally and to try to be more understanding when unknowing strangers ask ignorant questions.

Today, when I find myself in The Conversation, I still smile and answer the questions politely on the surface. However, on the inside, I no longer throw imaginary balls of fire; instead, I secretly chuckle to myself. Some of the questions I hear during The Conversation are reasonable, such as “What ethnicity are you?” and “Where are your parents from?”. I would have asked these questions myself if I were the unknowing stranger, because they are understandable to ask. However, some of the questions I receive just make me think to myself, “What were they thinking??” It is as if because I am Chinese, I am from an entirely different planet. But instead of being offended by such ridiculousness, I now take it upon myself to find humor in such situations. For instance:

Can you tell me how to say this word in Chinese? What is my Chinese name?

Do I look like Google Translate?

How do you tell each race apart?

Well, science actually shows that the Japanese have higher cheekbones…

Really??

No.

Don’t all Chinese people eat dogs or something? Have you ever eaten dog?

Just because a portion of my race does something outrageous does not mean that everyone has done it.

Are you related to [anything with the last name Li, Kim, Chen, Park, etc]?

Are you related to everyone with the last name [Smith, Jones, Martin, etc]?

Wait can you understand the other Asian languages?

Just because I am Chinese does not mean I understand Korean.

Do you ever get tired of eating rice?

Do you get tired of eating hamburgers?

Of course, these questions are somewhat ridiculous, but I have been asked all of these questions at least once in my lifetime. And instead of assuming the worst in my unknowing strangers and thinking of them as ignorant or racist, I try to understand their curiosity and find the humor in the situation. So now when someone asks me, “What ARE you,” I give this response: “My name is Jennifer Li. I am a Chinese-American female born in Atlanta, GA, and my parents are from China.”

There’s the Budweiser one about a spontaneous party. And the Coke one about America the Beautiful. Not to mention the Doritos one about a boy riding on a dog (and throwing a lasso around his brother?). In comparison, the Cheerios one with an adolescent girl pouring the cereal on her father’s chest seemed simple, even mundane. Yet this light, uncomplicated ad gained more media coverage than the commercials with twice its budget. It wasn’t because of any controversy, or inappropriate language, or sexual imagery. It was because this seemingly normal commercial showed a multi-racial family. In today’s supposedly unsegregated world, a commercial with Arnold Schwarzenegger acting as a ping-pong coach should get more Google hits than a family of three sitting around a breakfast table. When it doesn’t, does it show that our ideally unsegregated world has not yet become a reality? Maybe, it is not the world that is so obviously segregated, but the media.

The Super Bowl is known for its outrageous commercials. Remember the Pepsi ad with Britney Spears? There seemed to be a lot of fireworks in that one. Plus Britney, who is kinda a spectacle in herself. And yeah, that commercial got a lot of coverage. How could it not? However, it was asking for it.  It was loud, in your face, and wildly entertaining. There was even music. Everyone expected a big name star to generate a lot of media coverage.  What no one expected was for a mom, a dad, and a daughter to produce just as much, if not more. Cheerios did not include music, or explosions, or exotic animals to drum up views. It simply showed a normal family doing what normal families do.

For a lot of people though, the ad was abnormal. Most people are used to seeing couples of the same race portrayed on TV. Most people are not used to change, and most people don’t like it. Cheerios pushed these boundaries, catching the attention of the nation. “They sent the message that our brand includes not only a food product, but people inclusiveness without borders along the ethnic barriers of the past”[1]. And this message worked. By January 29 the commercial had just over 13,000 views on YouTube and comments that largely praised Cheerios.[2]

But why does it matter? Why is it a big deal that an African American father and a Caucasian mother are presented to the world in one of the most popular television experiences of the year? Shouldn’t we be used to it by now? I mean, it is a part of life. If we saw a couple like this on the street, a lot of us wouldn’t think twice. However, when they are streamed directly into our homes, we notice. We put down our day-old Chinese food and flat Diet Coke and pay attention. Articles are written about how Cheerios is changing the face of modern TV and how it’s a huge step for America. It shouldn’t be.

America should have taken these steps years ago. We’re supposed to be the progressive country. We look down on Russia for its questionable ideology and the actions that follow. Don’t get me wrong: I’m not equating us to Russia. We’re obviously better (have you seen photos of Sochi?).  However, I am comparing us. Its harsh, but being harsh is the only way to get things done. Multi-racial families have been a reality for years, even decades. You see them in the elementary school, walking down your street, and in your local supermarket. They are just like you and me. It’s absurd that I even have to make that argument in this essay. But because of the unnecessary media attention awarded to commercials like the Cheerios one, my hand has been forced.

Parts of the world are still segregated, yes. However, the media highlights this with unnecessary attention broadcast to mundane topics. Instead of focusing on a really cool fireworks display in the shape of a cowboy hat, it points out things that really should not be newsworthy. Most of the world has realized that interracial couples are no longer news. The media needs to catch up.

“It’s Beautiful:” Coca Cola’s newest commercial, originally released during the Super Bowl, has recently created uproar among many people nationwide. This 60-second clip features many scenes of ordinary American life while “America the Beautiful” is sung in the background. While seemingly nonthreatening, the song is a medley sung in various languages in addition to English (including Spanish, Hindi, Keres—a Native American language, Tagalog, Senegalese French, and Hebrew), enraging people across the country who believe it makes the commercial, and the company attached to it, “un-American.”

These people, who have mostly turned to social media (especially Twitter) to express their discontent, claim that the non-English languages and the “foreigners” attached to them show disrespect and an inaccurate depiction of what it means to be an American. But in defining what it means to be American, let’s not forget what America was founded upon and the ways by which our country has grown throughout the past few centuries.

Some, like Twitter user @turndaddy79, argue that we have betrayed America and being American by including other languages: “#[f***]COKE it’s America and the USA language is English…not all this foreign [s***]” To claim that our language in America is English and only English would be false. In fact, to date the United States does not even have an official language. Furthermore, according to the 2011 census, though almost 80% of Americans speak only English, almost a fifth of the national population is bilingual, speaking another language in addition to English. Though still a minority, this large percentage shows not only the existence of other languages in America, but also the prevalence at which they are spoken in our country. Writing off foreign languages as being un-American completely discounts these people who are just as American as anyone else.

Others, like Twitter user @osutruster4, wish to think that those who can speak other languages are foreigners that do not belong in America: “Get the foreigners off the AMERICAN COKE commercial. K” First, we must consider that language does not determine or parallel residential or citizenship status and understand that bilingualism is not the same as being foreign. Furthermore, America has always prided itself as a Great Melting Pot of people, cultures, languages, and traditions. It is a place where immigrants have always held the possibility of transforming into Americans. It is a place in which people of all cultures and nationalities can live together “in a spirit of trust and Civil Liberty.” People of all races and cultures have come to the US and found just that. In the past decade, almost 50% of immigrants, coming from Europe, Asia, and the Americas, have become US citizens. They now work the same jobs, vote for the same government, partake in the same community, and live very similar lives to all the people who have come before them. They have come to the Great Melting Pot, brought their diverse backgrounds, and have, in fact, become American.

Then there are some, like Twitter user @ElJungleCat, who think that anyone who is non-white is not American and therefore does not belong in this country: “That coke commercial sucked. Mexicans, jews, and [n******] are not ‘American’.” We must remember that America was built upon immigrants. Throughout history, America and its development has been shaped by immigrants from all over the world. Our country began the journey to what it is today when European settlers came to what we now know as America in the 1500’s; they provided the start to colonization and development in the New World. In the mid 1800’s, the Chinese immigrants flocked to America during the Gold Rush and became railroad workers, credited with building the western portion of the Central Pacific Road. Then, in the 1900’s, the Italian immigrants came to America’s major cities and took heavy construction jobs that led to bridges, tunnels, and skyscrapers. These non-English speaking immigrants, and more, were every bit as important to the development of our nation to become what it has today.

Interestingly and unsurprisingly, in planning and creating this commercial, Coke had a much different vision in mind. While the first version was released during the Super Bowl, the extended 90-second version was created to debut during the 2014 Winter Olympics to reinforce a sense of unity in our country and celebrate how beautiful America is. They chose seven bilingual girls who identify as being American to sing the song in their respective languages. Katie Bayne, the president of Coca Cola North America shares her view on the commercial’s basic concept: “Our ad provides a snapshot of the real lives of Americans representing diverse ethnicities, religions, races and families, all found in the United States. We believe ‘It’s Beautiful’ is a great example of the magic that makes our country so special, and a powerful message that spreads optimism, promotes inclusion and celebrates humanity – values that are core to Coca-Cola.” Like she says, America is special because of all of the diversity that can be found here. Even more, it is precisely the unification of all that diversity that has allowed for America to thrive and has made it what it is today—beautiful.

Sources:

http://publicshaming.tumblr.com/post/75447787843/speak-english-racist-revolt-as-coca-cola-airs

http://answers.usa.gov/system/templates/selfservice/USAGov/#!portal/1012/article/3206/OfficialLanguageoftheUS

http://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/acs-22.pdf

http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/immigration/chinese.html

http://library.thinkquest.org/20619/Chinese.html

http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline/italian_immigration.cfm

http://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/america-is-beautiful-and-coca-cola-is-for-everyone

The biggest news story of the summer was a Florida jury’s acquittal of George Zimmerman in the death of Trayvon Martin.   86% percent of blacks disagreed with the jury’s verdict compared to only 30% of whites.[1] The outcome of this trial highlighted the racial divisions in this country. What is the reason for such racial division?  I believe it has to do with the lower standard of living that blacks enjoy.  White men make $44,512 per year compared to $33,956 for black men.[2] My goal in this paper is not to make a judgment on why blacks often have a lower standard of living than whites but rather to hypothesize that this disparity, as well as who is responsible for it, is the main reason for racial division.

For many whites, racism is a remnant of the past.  To them, racism ended with the passage of the 1968 voting rights act.   Only 16% of whites believe that blacks face a lot of discrimination today.[3] If anything, many whites view themselves on the short end of the stick when it comes to many modern day policies.  The biggest example of this would be affirmative action policies at United States colleges.  These policies, with the goal of increasing diversity, use race as a factor in the admissions process.  This results in certain groups such as blacks being able to get into school with lower test scores than whites.  Whites with higher test scores often find themselves not getting into the school of their choice, partly due to the color of their skin.  Since they believe they have not individually done anything to harm blacks, they see affirmative action as unfair and even racist.  This mindset has gained steam in politics as affirmative actions bans have been passed in every state they have been brought to a vote, except for Colorado.  Many other whites, especially white males are put on the defensive, as they believe they are being unfairly blamed for the world’s problem.  The word “white privilege” has been thrown around a lot lately.  This is another word that seems to irk many whites.  The University of Wisconsin is holding a white privilege conference next month (which is partly supported by taxpayer funds) that has the goal to “dismantle this system of white supremacy, white privilege and oppression.”[4] As stated above, most whites do not believe there is a lot of racial discrimination and to accuse them of being supremacists, privileged, and oppressors makes them agitated and they think of it as unfair attack on them.  Successful hard-working whites believe that this campaign degrades them and their hard work, while poor whites are outraged that they are considered “privileged”.   Whites often believe that they are unfairly being used as scapegoats for problems such as single motherhood, high crime rates, and inadequate education that affect the black community.  Overall, most whites believes that blacks are responsible for the problems they face.

Blacks however see a different picture.  46% of blacks believe that they face a lot of racial discrimination, including an additional 42% of blacks who believe they face some racial discrimination.  Many blacks attribute their lower standard of living as well as issues that affect the black community to poverty, which they perceive to be caused by racism.  Some blacks contend that even if most whites aren’t racist, the systems that society operates by often are.  For example, whites control most positions of power in society.  Most businessmen, politicians, and other people in power are white.  Many blacks believe the police are racist at worst or that the law disproportionately affects blacks at best.  For instant in my home state of Illinois, 15% of the population is black yet 77% of arrestees for drug offenses were black, even though drug use has been found to be roughly equal among races.[5] Even if society is largely not racist today, historical injustices, such as slavery and Jim Crow laws affects are still felt today.  Blacks blame their lower standard of living on anything from the effects of slavery, to institutional racism, to direct racism by individuals.  Blacks feel victimized by whites who flee their cities, the law that incarcerates them at higher rates than whites, and by society itself.

It should be noted that not all whites and all blacks agree with what is above.  There are plenty of whites who believe in “white privilege” as well as blacks who don’t believe they are still being victimized in one way or another by society.  It is hard to disagree with blacks who claim racism when one looks at their earnings, school choices, and arrest rates when compared to whites.  It is also hard to disagree with whites who despise affirmative action as well as the notion they are responsible for the plight of blacks.  Although it is unfair that blacks have suffered in the past (or continue to suffer today, based on your viewpoint,) from historical injustices it may not seem fair to lay the blame on whites of today, most of who are not racist.  The answer to reconciling our racial divisions it not as simple as “whites stop being racist” or “blacks take responsibility for the problems that plague your communities.”  I wish there was an easy answer to healing the racial divide in this country, but if there was, it would already be healed by now.

“The White unemployment rate? It’s nearly more than triple for Black… bubbling crack, jewel theft and robbery to combat poverty and end up in the global jail economy.”

Mos Def, Mathematics

We live in a nation divided. Lines defined by gender, religion, socioeconomic status, and race run through the very fabric of our society and more literally from a geographical point of view. Despite the lack of de jure segregation as it existed into the later half of the twentieth century, segregation remains deeply ingrained in our society today. We champion diversity and strive for equality amongst all citizens, yet minority groups, particularly African-Americans and Latinos, continue to be oppressed as a result of urbanization and concentration in low-income areas, unjust institutions of criminal justice and imprisonment, and lack of equal opportunity in public schools. Tens of millions of Americans are denied their right to equal opportunity in poor neighborhoods, in court and in prison, and in classrooms nationwide. Without attention, this injustice will continue to manifest itself in our communities and in our culture for years to come.

It is natural for people to live in communities based on common heritage or ethnicity. Throughout history humans have organized themselves based on their beliefs and culture, but what we see today is different. The cycle of poor education, poverty, and incarceration has become an undeniable phenomenon among minorities in urban areas of the United States. In cities across America, African Americans and Hispanics live with outrageously high rates of poverty and, subsequently, crime. According to US Census data from 2012, minorities earn a real median income that is $10,000 or more less than the national median, and nearly $20,000 less than non-Hispanic White Americans. Poverty is worst for African Americans, of whom there are 24.2% living in poverty, compared to the national average of just 11.8% [1]. While these numbers are shocking, they pale in comparison to the rates of incarcerated persons by race.

African Americans and Latinos make up a tremendously disproportional percentage of the population in the United States prison system. Particularly in the aforementioned low-income areas, many minorities are forced to crime, be it drug related, theft, or otherwise, as a necessary source of income. 37.2% of prisoners are Black, yet only 13.1% of Americans are Black [2]. In addition, convictions of drug related offenses, robberies, and murders are all significantly higher among African American inmates than the average. These statistics are far too overwhelming to be deemed coincidental, and point to poor urban living conditions and lack of lack of educational and economic opportunities as causes.

There in lies both the problem and the solution. Racial segregation remains prevalent in our public school system, especially in urban areas. It is not uncommon for young people in Chicago, America’s most segregated city, to attend kindergarten through high school without having any classmates of another race [3]. A New York Times article outlined data from the Department of Education which revealed the unsettling truth of racial segregation in public schools. As the demographics of our nation continue to shift with growing minority populations, children of different races remain separate in many schools. A study by the Civil Rights Project at UCLA reported that 43% of Latinos and 38% of African Americans attend schools where fewer than 10% of their classmates are white nationwide [4]. The segregation is not solely based on race, though. The same study showed that minorities are twice as likely to attend schools where the overwhelming majority of students are impoverished. One must certainly be skeptical of the quality of education and opportunity to excel that these children are receiving. It is out of this skepticism, though, where the opportunity for change is born.

In order to provide an equal opportunity for all young Americans, education must be the first priority. In order for poor Black and Hispanic children to have a fighting chance in our competitive economy and job market, they must first be equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary to receive higher education or find work to provide a more comfortable life for future generations. This is not a discussion of affirmative action. It is instead a call to arms directed at the Department of Education and school districts across our country. The solution to the problems of poverty and crime among racial minorities lies in the education and empowerment of the younger generation. It is our responsibility as Americans not to be complacent with regard to these deep-rooted injustices. We must invest in the education of young African Americans and Hispanic Americans not only in the interest of equality, but in the interest of the future prosperity of our Nation.

[1] http://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/p60-245.pdf

[2] http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html

[3] http://www.salon.com/2012/07/11/segregation_in_urban_schools_salpart/

[4] http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/20/education/segregation-prominent-in-schools-study-finds.html?_r=0

“So what are you? What kind of Asian are you? Where are your people from?” are some of the questions that I, and probably countless others, get asked quite often. People ask me these questions because I’m obviously Asian, based on my appearance, but it can be difficult to distinguish between people of different countries in Asia. While there’s nothing wrong with asking these questions, it often seems as though race is commonly generalized to skin color or physical appearance; there are countless articles, documentaries, movies, and works of literature regarding skin color and its representations in society. But race doesn’t consist merely of the physical aspect of a human being; race can be attributed to many characteristics, such as geography, culture, religion, language, and social affiliations. People can’t be classified into a single race, because there are so many different factors that affect them in their lifetimes.

Whenever I tell others that I’m Korean, the first thing that they ask me (both jokingly and seriously) is if I’m from North Korea or South Korea. Technically I’m from both—my grandparents are from North Korea, and they moved down to the South before the Korean Peninsula was divided into two in 1945. Because I have only lived in South Korea until I was five, I don’t remember much. But I was born there. And I remember the tall apartments that were so prevalent because South Korea is a small country, the colorful playground in front of our apartment, the art classes my mother used to make me take, and my favorite Korean desserts. The few blurry memories I have of South Korea are what have shaped me in my early childhood.

Because I was born and grew up in South Korea, it’s obvious that I have never experienced what life would be like in North Korea. But that doesn’t change the fact that half of my family comes from the North. While North Korea is now known as one of the most secretive countries in the world, I still identify with it somehow, through the stories my grandparents have told me, through the research I did in high school for my final project, and through the Liberty in North Korea club I’m currently participating in. Both North and South Korea are a large part of myself.

Then when I was five years old, my family moved to Canada, where I spent most of my later childhood. During my seven years in Canada, I experienced the difficulties of adjusting to a completely new culture, learning a new language, fitting in, and making friends at the same time. Eventually we obtained Canadian citizenship, and had comfortably adjusted to life in Canada.

After those seven years in Canada, we moved to California. I attended middle school and high school there, two major periods in my life. These were the times when I wanted to go out and do stupid things with my friends, when I didn’t want to study for upcoming tests, when I got into huge arguments with my parents, when I would get moody for no reason. I experienced the American process of taking standardized tests and figuring out what I wanted to do in the future and applying for colleges. Although I was born in South Korea and grew up in Canada, I now feel the most connection to America. I’m still not an American citizen, but after spending a critical period of my life here, it’s now where I feel most at home.

When someone asked me one day where I was from, I felt a bit confused—I had considered myself Korean for the most part, but I realized I remembered very little of it. When my childhood was brought up, my memories of Canada would come back instead. And now that I have lived in America for many years, I can’t help but feel that it has also become an important part of me. My experiences of living in a variety of countries each had some sort of meaning that made me who I am today. So race isn’t about what we look like, or whether we took a test and obtained a piece of paper declaring our citizenship. Race is beyond the color of our skin, it’s about the history of our lives, and how we have been touched by all of our diverse experiences.

After going through the college admission process, I thought if I heard the word “diversity” one more time I was going to get up and walk out of the information session for whatever school I was visiting that day. To be quite frank, it meant nothing to me. My high school prided itself on its diversity. My high school was also in a neighborhood that was 94.1% white and being diverse meant that you were Methodist instead of Presbyterian. Diversity seemed like a loosely backed phrase that schools used to try to add value, but was actually an empty promise. So when Vanderbilt prided itself on being diverse, I expected more of the same. I always thought of diversity as something just pertaining to race. White, black, green, purple—whatever color you were defined who you were and made you a statistic. After just one semester at Vanderbilt I have learned that I could not have been more wrong.

Missouri in general is 84% white. I grew up in the same neighborhood my high school was in, and I had one African American neighbor. It was not that people were openly racist, but things that were said at school and at home would not be accepted if said here. Seeing Confederate Flags was an everyday occurrence, the few minorities that were at my high school mainly stuck together, and the use of racial slurs in everyday conversation was not something anyone thought twice about. In Ta-Nehisi Coates’s article “In Defense of a Loaded Word” he argues that the n-word is something black people should be allowed to say. Everyone where I am from would absolutely agree, they would just also agree that it was something white people were allowed to say too.

Nashville is by far the most diverse city I have ever lived in. According to the census data from 2010, Nashville is only 60.5% white. Vanderbilt, which has the majority of people I am surrounded with every day, is only 70.4% white. I am fully aware that to many people that is not a diverse community, but to me it was a complete culture shock. I suddenly found myself having to watch and actually filter what I said. Do not get me wrong, I never saw the symbols or saying with racial connotations or as something malicious, they were just a part of my lifestyle enclave. But now within each of my classes at Vanderbilt, I meet people everyday that are from Asia, Europe, Africa, South America, even California, which is someplace I’ve never been. I recently shared a study table with a girl from Malaysia; I sit next to a girl from Belize in my General Logic class, and my best friend is Latino, and I plan on being roommates with a girl who is African American next year—all of these opportunities have been afforded to me through the diversity of Nashville and Vanderbilt.

But I’ve also learned that diversity does not just pertain to skin color. People with different hopes, goals, dreams, and thoughts all bring unique perspectives to an environment. Someone who comes from a different socio-economic background than me can offer a story about a walk of life that I have never taken. Someone who practices a different faith can share values about how to live life that I have never even thought of. My mind is very politically driven, and I would definitely not describe myself as someone who is moderate. But here, I have been able to talk with people who view how the country should be run and that within itself is diversity I have never encountered. The diversity at Vanderbilt has opened doors I never knew existed.

It seems like everyday I meet someone new that has a background that I can learn something from. I have learned that here, diversity is not just a catch phrase used to increase application numbers, but something that is actually valued. Diversity is viewed as something that gives someone like me the opportunity to encounter people and increase my knowledge of the world. Here, I have learned the importance of meeting people who are different than you, because you never know what you could learn.

Works Cited

Coates, Ta-Nehisi. “In Defense of a Loaded Word.” Sunday Review: The Opinion Pages. New York Times, 23 November 2013. Web. 9 February 2014. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/24/opinion/sunday/coates-in-defense-of-a-loaded-word.html?_r=0

“State and County QuickFacts.” United States Census Bureau. US Department of Congress. Web. 9 November 2013. http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/47/4752006.html

The United States is a giant melting pot, isn’t it? I have done copious amounts of international travel and have never been to a place whose diversity could equal that of America’s. It’s a beautiful thought; it’s what a majority would envision as the ideal society. But at the same time, most of us know, if we dig deep down, that America is only emerging from the racial struggles that have defined much of its history. Dig even deeper, and I think it becomes clear how large of an impact these underlying racial tensions have on our lives. These tensions effect everyone differently and so, everyone has different story. To break the ice, I start by telling you mine.

The story goes like this: I was born in Norway and I am a Norwegian citizen. My first language is Norwegian, and I still, to this day prefer Norwegian food over any other kind. My mother is adopted. Her biological parents are Korean, but she was given up when she was less than a year old. To her and my enormous luck, she was given to my grandmother, a fashionable, kind brunette who has a thing for pastries and expensive clothes.
Truly a remarkable person. My father is Chinese. He was born in China, raised in China – he is 100% Chinese. He came to Norway to get his doctor’s degree. My dad got the degree and married my mother. I was born soon after, and I lived in Norway for the next three happy years. Following that time, we began what would be a series of transitions from state to state. I blossomed during that time; I was a little girl, built, layer by layer, with diversity. I could sympathize and understand a great diversity of people, much more so than other children. Things began to change, however, as I grew. I lost much of my ability to feel connected to everyone and I became much more shallow. I blame this decline and
my increasing tendency to categorize myself with certain types of people, on America’s ongoing struggles with race and on my own loss of innocence.

Any struggles I had with learning the English language faded towards the end of elementary school and early middle school. American culture had grown on both me and my parents. I started figure skating. My mom became a flute teacher and my father picked up golf. I also had a lot of different “best friends” during this time – one year it was a Venezuelan, another year an Indian. Our visits to Norway, thankfully, had not stopped, and I felt as at home there as ever. Kids in Norway were the most relatable of all
because they had been raised just as I had. Nevertheless, in all cases, I think a child’s life is beautiful: A child has the unique, unconscious ability to feel connected to others through experience – which I don’t believe is as different as many believe. A child is a child. The majority of us (although I realize that this is not true for many children) have played and
explored. We have had many of the same curious thoughts and we bond over these
similarities.

But then something changes. Sometime during high school, I stopped being friends with Indians and Venezuelans and started being friends with East Asians. I joined an exclusive social circle whose acceptance criteria included black hair and “yellow” skin, and for some strange reason, I began to feel as though the Norwegian and American part of me was disappearing. I felt as though I were half-Chinese half-Korean, despite the fact that
couldn’t understand any of the languages, had never been to either place, and hated
spicy food. People wanted me to be Asian. Other Asians expected this of me. In my community, people who looked like me where always the ones to start a conversation or to ask for homework help. Others, “whites”, Indians, blacks etc., were much more reserved. Thus, I felt a lot of pressure to do what society expected of me. Society expected me to be Chinese and Korean because I looked the part. And astoundingly, society succeeded. I
changed a lot during high school. I grew and matured and I realized that I would be the odd one out if I didn’t feel most close to the people who looked like me. Despite the fact that my culture and experiences were American and Norwegian, I felt as though my appearance had the ability to override all of this.

I am much more narrow than I once used to be, which I believe, as I said before, is a product of the expectations of society and my own realization of this. There are hundreds of exceptions, but I think the following occurs frequently enough that it is significant: we often forget what it is that brings us together. Experience, wisdom, knowledge, and the like are all things that we have in common. People who have lived much of their lives in
the United States often don’t realize how much they share with other American citizens, despite their appearance. America has this power. When one immigrates to the US, they become part American. Isn’t that what the American dream is all about? When I was younger, I had the great fortune of feeling as though I could relate to anyone. We were all children who spoke English and who lived in the US. Some of our experiences were different because we were born in different countries but we shared American culture and that connected us. As I grew, and as my friends grew, we all became more conscious of the differences between us, rather than the similarities. These differences, most obvious in our
appearances separated us into smaller groups. It completely altered my perception of myself, something which my father has wisely pointed out to me.

He has told me this over and over, and I will repeat it here:

“You forget what the rest of the world is like because you limit yourself to such a narrow group of people. You are American and Norwegian and Chinese and Korean. You are a world citizen. Always be conscious of that.”

The Abolition of Racism

Although America has come a long way since slavery (often labeled as the United State’s “largest regrettable mistake”), racism and discrimination are still present in our society. Even today, in February of 2014, race is a carefully approached topic capable of evoking particularly charged emotions and disputes. The words “racist” and “racism” are thrown at any intellectual who simply tries to point out their own observations or thoughts about another group’s culture or traditions. Perhaps these mudslingers have not considered that they themselves are part of a much larger problem: the perpetuation of racism. By defaulting on negatively charged words such as “racist,” these name-callers only further stimulate the idea that one’s “otherness” or foreignness make him somehow unequal to his fellow man as they place themselves in a separate, adverse camp.

Instead, they should catch their tongues and think about why that intellectual may feel that way, what could have shaped his perception, and from there find a way to refute his claim. They may even come to realize that the claim does not have any roots in race at all, but rather was simply an observation that was written down by someone who experienced a real life situation. Acknowledgement and affirmation are monumentally important to the art of argument. Otherwise, one would just be written off as stubborn. Like a mule. No one wants to be a mule.

Innocence. When we’re children and have not yet been exposed to the terrible idea of discrimination based on the color of one’s skin, we don’t see white kids and black kids and red kids and blue kids. We only see kids. We see people. That is, we see people until we are introduced to the idea that certain people are different from others. Yes, obviously one can see that they look different, but one does not feel differently about them until he is told he should. The notions of race that many of us see as universal are, in fact, socially constructed. As such, if society wasn’t so centered on being politically correct, it is possible that people could speak more openly about racial differences in a non-derogatory way without having to walk on eggshells as they approach the dreadfully awkward topic of race (which, unfortunately, usually leads to a discussion of racism). The media also plays a large role in perpetuating racial stereotypes. Perhaps popular news outlets and other informational sources are what have been making everyone so touchy. While there is no doubt in my mind that these sources have helped to preserve a certain level of sensitivity in our society, we cannot place the blame solely on news outlets and the Internet. The blame is on us.

I believe that racism is a term that sits on fear’s shoulders. Everyone is worried about offending everyone else all the time. Well, stop that. Just stop it. It’s February of 2014 and you’re telling me that I can’t speak my mind? Racism has been more or less dead for a long time, and each time that word is used in its accusatory sense only serves to beat a dead horse or to form an attack against someone who was only trying to speak his or her mind.

In her essay “No Man’s Land,” Eula Biss demonstrates that many of us are scared. Scared to walk through an ally late at night. Scared to swim in the infinite, violent waters of the ocean. Scared to… say what we feel. Biss also alludes to Barry Glassner’s Culture of Fear and points out that, like race, fears are also socially constructed. Every society chooses what to fear. Some societies fear things that others do not. Because people are scared of offending others or being distasteful, they hold inside possibly important information about the ways that these notions of race are perpetuated and maintained in today’s society. We need to reshape our notions of race. We need to reshape what we fear.

Look, I know that we’re human and that we react in certain ways to certain things via these things called emotions, but enough is enough. While I realize some of what I am writing may be insensitive, it is important. I in no way, shape, or form support any type of racism or discrimination towards other groups or ethnicities; however, I do believe that, because of the sensitivity and general awkwardness associated with the topic, it is difficult to find progress in a room of timid individuals who won’t look the issue in the face when talking to it. In a perfect world, everyone would adopt a newfound confidence about issues like race and realize that no, everyone is not out to get you, and no, you do not have to shy away from sensitive but important topics (because if you did then you wouldn’t be making would be hindering the development of society and mankind, so please don’t do that). With a newfound confidence, the issue of racism may finally be driven into the ground and the word “racist” would only be used in a way that looks back on a “close-minded” past. Open and honest discussion about racial connotations and stereotypes is pivotal to societal progression. Unfortunately, we do not live in a perfect world, and both racism and hypersensitivity will probably still continue to exist. In the meantime, maybe we could focus on one of the millions of other problems that exist in our world today. Maybe we could start with fixing the hotels in Sochi?