What does Social Justice mean to me?

What is most interesting about defining “social justice” is the way in which most people claim to have no experience with social justice. I believe most people’s main assumption is that experience to social justice, is working on a project that incorporates ideas of social justice, or experiencing moments of social injustice. I believe that these ideas can be used as lenses to unravel two large fallacies of American culture:

1. You are your career/Your career is what you do; and
2. Inability to talk about differences.

When meeting people, it is most common to be asked, “so, what do you do?” Of course the assumption within this question is an inquiry into a person’s career. Americans believe that what you do day-to-day is your defining characteristic. Hence, people are defined by their careers. There are many reasons why this could be, but to the core it’s how we define the American-self. Even on game shows, introductions include what the person does for a living. It is not likely that you will hear someone being introduced by the relationships they are involved in, by their interests or passions, etc. e.g. “This is John Smith from Anywhere, USA. So, what do you do in Anywhere, USA, John?”

Since we, as Americans, default to defining our identity to a career, it makes sense that most people when asked their experience with social justice would choose to answer based on experience at jobs, in projects or in. As a result, many people claim to have no experience in social justice. I am bothered by this answer, but not surprised.

Social justice is heeding attention to the equality of groups across the board. Every person in society exists somewhere in the social justice sphere. Daily, we make choices that affect others; hence we are all constantly involved in some way with the idea of social justice.

Maybe one reason why most people hesitate to claim experience with social justice is the stigma that, the privileged are to blame for society’s inequities. I know as a racial/visual minority that I can speak about racial issues with ease, without fear of being judged. I am not of the privileged ethnic race in America and thus am given free reign to speak out on race issues. However, I have known many Caucasians who hesitate to speak about racial issues for fear of saying something wrong or exposing their racial assumptions in a public forum. This is the second fallacy in American culture. We are taught, and it is a reinforced social norm, that we all deserve the same opportunities regardless of our background or differing qualities. As a result, when people see someone as different they avoid acknowledging that observation for fear of being considered racist, ageist, sexist, etc. When you are the culprit of observation, you take on the responsibility for having noticed that difference. For example, if someone states that I am Asian, suddenly I am not just anyone to them, I am “that Asian.” For me, now that this person has labeled me as Asian, when they make decisions that involve me, I assume that label is connected to the decision.

It is a complicated subject and a difficult idea/thesis that I am obviously still working out. What I do know with certainty, is that Americans are inherently all the same and all very different at the same time. Our similarities and differences are complex to the core and we avoid discussion of both. We are a politically correct culture, and we avoid genuine conversation about our differences.

My father has said that when he offers to buy everyone lunch, his black employees usually requested that he buy fried chicken. This is a fact. I worked with him for 8 years and his black employees often made this request. Now, these statements will bother the majority of people who read the beginning of this paragraph. Isn’t that racist? That’s a generalization. Etc. However, my father has made this observation based on his experience. Empirically he is right. I do not believe that he would be right in assuming that because his experience has shown that his black employees like fried chicken that all black people must like chicken – that would be too small of a sample to make such an inference. What my father has done in these statements is something that I have seen many first generation Americans and older Americans do. They state obvious observations and use race as an identifying factor. I am not supporting or condoning this use of racial labels; however, if people truly think this way, having them hide their thoughts and censor themselves only avoids the problem. It is my firm belief that differences need to be brought out into the open. We are not the same. We are different. Let’s appreciate those differences and learn from each other’s strengths to create opportunity between different peoples.

I hope that Social Justice as a course will give people the opportunity to explore their own identities and learn the differences between themselves and others. I hope that an environment is created that is safe and comforting, so that people can take risks and say things they are afraid to say in public. What we think is our own personal truths, and only by speaking our own personal truths can we ever reach a collective reality and agreement.