EDSS 531 Journal 4

My biases stem from my experiences growing up and my family’s culture has influenced how I think, feel, and view myself among others.  I grew up in an upper middle class white suburban town located in northern San Diego County. I lived there since I was one years old, but most of my family is from Baltimore, Maryland.  My parents decided on the town I grew up in, based upon the school district ratings. They were highly educated themselves and wanted to ensure my brother and I had the best educational opportunities.  I never really acknowledged other races and ethnicities until I encountered them in middle school. I had a sheltered life and the African American classmates I knew in elementary school I did talk to and thought they were just as cool as others. I didn’t understand however how they might have felt, if they felt left out at all until I learned about the history of America. I still remember how saddened I was learning about how the Native Americans were pushed out of their own land. It did not seem fair. I then learned about more injustices that human beings had to face and endure all because of their skin coloring. My parents had no clue how I felt because they grew up in a predominately white neighborhood and didn’t encounter the many races I did at school.  My best friend from middle school turned out to look African American but she was Jamaican. I learned so much from her, that I changed my biases and took the veil off my eyes and saw how ugly the world really is. From then on, I was a different person and started to gravitate towards other races more so than my own.

Knowledge definitely is the key to understanding one another! Without my standard required courses in school about the history of American people and my experience with my non-white friends, would I have come to the biases I’m at today.  My heart still aches for those who hurt for their ancestors. I hear their cry and their plea for us to try to sympathize and take time to listen to what their families past journey and story was like.  I try to value each person for their own individuality and take their culture and family history into account.  I understand that we are human beings and it is in our primal instincts to react to differences and because of our primal social behavior, we will impulsively react without thinking sometimes and exclude others.  This is human nature; however we are very intelligent and now know that this is injustice and that we all have the same feelings inside.

My students will know from me that I care about them.  I will have to take the time to get to know each student and their family journeys and what is important to each of them to understand how I can connect my subject to their lives. This is my priority as an educator and role model.