Thursday, March 7, 2019

Remedial Ed

There are some seriously unhappy people out there. Fortunately for them, schools have recognized the truth of life and are willing and able to explain their problems to them: Specifically, one is either a victim or an oppressor. And it's a lot easier than the Id and the Super ego.
"When I came to UC-Berkeley and took the ethnic studies class, I realized the inequalities I saw all my life were the result of blatant racism…The ethnic studies class I took made me realize that even though I identified as a person of color, my life was influenced by many representations of white supremacy, two of the most significant ones being colorism and heteronormativity…. Additionally, ethnic studies made me realize that white supremacy is not only reflected through colorism but also through heteronormativity. These expectations of sexuality were an imposition by settler colonialists.
I realized that my parent’s expectations of me being heterosexual and feminine could be traced back to the heteronormativity imposed by white settlers. All my life, I had been colonized… I will no longer allow white supremacy to control my life and will continue to be a critic of its different manifestations. I will continue to decolonize myself by changing old attitudes and habits. Ultimately, ethnic studies fundamentally changed the way I view the world. It empowered me by showing me how I was being oppressed and how I was oppressing others."
---From UC-Berkeley student Lupita Lua’s op-ed Color Blind-ed

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