Quarter Reflection

This quarter has been transformative.

Throughout the quarter, I saw many of my fellow student body members having eye-opening experiences. For me, Social Justice was a practice in patience and realizing and accepting the differences between people. It was hard for me to accept people's different places in the Social Justice sphere. Group discussions and individual, one-on-one discussions revealed to me how imbedded racial/ethnic labels and stereotypes are.

In my own life, I began to increasingly identify myself as Asian American. My racial identity as defined in America became more prominent throughout the quarter. In my early 20's I struggled with identity. I had done extensive traveling in Korea and Japan. At this time in my life I felt American, but when I went to Korea suddenly I was surrounded by people who looked like me. However, these people did not accept me as Korean, I was American. Then in Japan, I was once again surrounded by people who I blended in with. I saw them as Japanese, but the Japanese saw me as nominally Japanese. Of course when I spoke they realized I was American and eventually realized that I had a Korean ancestry. When I returned to America, the norm was no longer people who exuded my physical appearance. Thus the existential journey continued. No one looked like me, but I was American. I was an individual and nothing could have made me more American. Yet somehow, I did not feel that I belonged in American culture.

Social Justice has created this awareness again. I am the Asian American when I am in public. People acknowledge and see me as an Asian. My daily interactions over the quarter have felt more influenced by the fact that I look different from the norm - living in Portland, one of the whitest cities in America does not help.

On top of this, a friend that I got to connected with has decided to start a blog for Korean Americans to discuss identity and the Korean American experience. Thus far our posts have been introductory, but the overarching themes thus far exhibit similar notions. Where do we belong in a society that champions individuality, but by institutionalized racism and implicit norms shuns differences from the status quo?

Through the last intensive I had many great small group conversations about Social Justice. I came to realize that many of my peers were exhausted from feelings of privilege. Also, there was a point of insight that was not being reached, collectively. Speaking together in a smaller, intimate setting allowed each of us to truly delve into the sensitive subjects of personal privilege and our different cultural experiences.

My final takeaway from Social Justice is the realization of how institutionalized racism is in America. Although we spoke about many forms of privilege and about many different spheres of influence, the discussion always came back to race. It is the easiest to identify and spans across other Social Justice spheres, such as gender, sexual orientation and age. As I come to terms with this realization and my ego subsides I believe I will see the great progress society has made.