The Content of My Character vs. The Color of My Skin
Well, it has been a LONG two weeks since my last posting. Over a week
ago I was battling the flu and it's always such a humbling experience
to be so physically debilitated that I thought I was going to die. True,
I actually had more than one passing thought of "I think I might die of
this" because I was so sick. Well, clearly that didn't happen so on to
my musing about MLK Day.
So in just three days much of the United States will be honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. for his life of service and ministry towards racial and social justice. I often think of how my family could not be in the US without the Civil Rights Movement or at least wouldn't have a life of more equal opportunity. I sincerely believe that I stand on the shoulders of generations of people including children and college students who stood up against tyranny and injustice. This is my public "thank you" which of course is an understatement of profound proportion.
Now about those famous words of MLK from his "I Have A Dream" speech about judging people by the content of the character and not by the color of their skin. In some ways we're actually moving towards that truth. Students today are THE most racially diverse group of students in the history of the US. And yet...we have too many stories of people being judged by the color of their skin for who they are and some of these quick judgments have led to devastating consequences.
A less serious but real example is how people presume I'm good at math. Really? My friends know better than to ask me to figure out the tip. In some ways this is just an annoyance and who cares if people think I can do calculus at the snap of my fingers. But what does this mean for the Asian American student who ISN'T good at math and isn't getting the help s/he needs simply because, well, sh/e is supposed to be a math whiz ? Or that same student is locked into a box and not able to pursue his or her dream to be a writer, an artist or a basketball player like Jeremy Lin?
Look it, judge me by who I am by what I do, by what I say, by my character. And, yes, don't judge me by the way I look for the type of person I am. At the same time, acknowledge the fact that I'm (guess what?) Asian, Chinese to be specific and Cantonese even more so, and that it might mean something to me. And let's be truthful, when you met me didn't it cross your mind that I spoke Chinese, must have gotten an 1800 on my SAT and straight As in college? Not a word, not even 1000 and my GPA dropped from 3.3 to 2.1 in my last semester. So there you go...
So in just three days much of the United States will be honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. for his life of service and ministry towards racial and social justice. I often think of how my family could not be in the US without the Civil Rights Movement or at least wouldn't have a life of more equal opportunity. I sincerely believe that I stand on the shoulders of generations of people including children and college students who stood up against tyranny and injustice. This is my public "thank you" which of course is an understatement of profound proportion.
Now about those famous words of MLK from his "I Have A Dream" speech about judging people by the content of the character and not by the color of their skin. In some ways we're actually moving towards that truth. Students today are THE most racially diverse group of students in the history of the US. And yet...we have too many stories of people being judged by the color of their skin for who they are and some of these quick judgments have led to devastating consequences.
A less serious but real example is how people presume I'm good at math. Really? My friends know better than to ask me to figure out the tip. In some ways this is just an annoyance and who cares if people think I can do calculus at the snap of my fingers. But what does this mean for the Asian American student who ISN'T good at math and isn't getting the help s/he needs simply because, well, sh/e is supposed to be a math whiz ? Or that same student is locked into a box and not able to pursue his or her dream to be a writer, an artist or a basketball player like Jeremy Lin?
Look it, judge me by who I am by what I do, by what I say, by my character. And, yes, don't judge me by the way I look for the type of person I am. At the same time, acknowledge the fact that I'm (guess what?) Asian, Chinese to be specific and Cantonese even more so, and that it might mean something to me. And let's be truthful, when you met me didn't it cross your mind that I spoke Chinese, must have gotten an 1800 on my SAT and straight As in college? Not a word, not even 1000 and my GPA dropped from 3.3 to 2.1 in my last semester. So there you go...
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