Natalie Santiago is a first-year
from Chicago, Illinois.
At our multicultural meeting on January 28th, it seemed like this "Day of Inclusion" had a lot in store for us. No one really expected major changes, but I expected there to be more of a comprehension among the student body that people are different and worth recognizing.
Dr. Derald Sue focused on micro-aggressions, which are basically absent-minded judgments based on skin color, ethnicity, financial status and overall appearances. Confronting this problem is only the beginning of fixing the issues we face at this school; we need to take steps as a community at large.
We start within our friend groups and address the fact that we shouldn't treat people the way we do; we then become accustomed to be being more open minded about differences in each other and more willing to accept them. Once we start to branch out from group to group, we can then collectively come together and realize as a school, that this needs to be a change among this generation.
We have come too far in history to start looking back now, all we can do is take the information we're given and create the solution best suited to this specific campus. Getting caught up in the social life can seem like one of the most important things you can do, but it's not because at the end of the day you cannot depend on your social status to get you all the things you need. You have to work for them. Creating cliques and criticizing people for being who they are demands a hierarchy of reputation and popularity that can only further exclude us as a unit.
Furthermore, if people are feeling excluded then we are categorizing people and not utilizing the majority to solve these problems; only the inclusion of the majority will lead to an actual change. It is not enough to have a few people interested, though it is a start.
We have already reached that point, but now we need the majority of people, not to necessarily think the same way, but at least see eye to eye with each other to the point of where we can have equal respect. Small changes have taken place over campus, and these simple acts are enough to notice a difference. People that would not normally acknowledge someone else have become more friendly and willing to extend their hand to an individual who is different from them. People smile a little bit more, and have come to terms with the fact that it's an actual issue worth confronting, and not something that only the minority face.
The diversity presentation, however, did seem to slightly imply that all white people are racist when that's not the case. We only further this categorization by defining them as prejudice, when really they are open and accepting. Certain people on this campus ruin it for everyone else, but it is really up to the individual to decide what is right for them despite their friend groups and family ties; if you want to be a better person, then just be that.