Here We Go Again
On the night before Nemo, I casually picked up the copy of the Cowl.
(By the way, it's a great paper and everyone should read it.) It wasn't
until later that evening that I finally opened it and read the
commentary titled, "Diversity; More than Skin Color." As I read it, I thought, "Oh no, not again," and "Wow, she really used that word. Yikes!"
After I allowed myself five minutes of exasperation, I began to think of how Lee Mun Wah, last year's orientation diversity speaker, would have addressed the situation. He would ask, "Tell me more about what you meant by..." and "What led you to write this now?"
Instead of staying angry or feeling rejected, he would exhort me (all of us!) to take the time to listen and reflect before responding. He'd also tell us to breathe deeply and center ourselves on what's most important, which is not other people's opinions or perceptions of us. No matter what, he'd say we need to be honest with ourselves and with others. Truth and justice demands that we do.
It's also important to remember that this is not a revelatory topic or issue on college campuses. That's why the title of this posting is, "Here we go again..." It's nothing new yet it can be startling to those who haven't heard or read such commentary in such blatant terms. And as much I'm sure that the writer was not intending to hurt anyone, the fact is that it did. Many students of color now question whether they belong at PC and wonder if their White peers see them as "less than."
What I hope comes out of this is our willingness to engage and to learn whether we agree or disagree with what was written. And the question is are we willing to hear the other side rather than dig in and be like, well, the United States Congress?
All kidding aside, let's make a way to dialogue even in the midst of disagreement. One way or the other we need to since we live on the same planet and in this case on the same campus.
After I allowed myself five minutes of exasperation, I began to think of how Lee Mun Wah, last year's orientation diversity speaker, would have addressed the situation. He would ask, "Tell me more about what you meant by..." and "What led you to write this now?"
Instead of staying angry or feeling rejected, he would exhort me (all of us!) to take the time to listen and reflect before responding. He'd also tell us to breathe deeply and center ourselves on what's most important, which is not other people's opinions or perceptions of us. No matter what, he'd say we need to be honest with ourselves and with others. Truth and justice demands that we do.
It's also important to remember that this is not a revelatory topic or issue on college campuses. That's why the title of this posting is, "Here we go again..." It's nothing new yet it can be startling to those who haven't heard or read such commentary in such blatant terms. And as much I'm sure that the writer was not intending to hurt anyone, the fact is that it did. Many students of color now question whether they belong at PC and wonder if their White peers see them as "less than."
What I hope comes out of this is our willingness to engage and to learn whether we agree or disagree with what was written. And the question is are we willing to hear the other side rather than dig in and be like, well, the United States Congress?
All kidding aside, let's make a way to dialogue even in the midst of disagreement. One way or the other we need to since we live on the same planet and in this case on the same campus.
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