"Happy new year, care for some ice cream?" What kind of a voice spoke to you as you read those words? Was it a high pitched petite squeak, a deep roar, or simply your own?
How do we perceive life, and what makes us so sure or unsure about our ideals and viewpoints? Each and every single one of you has ideas, dreams and insecurities about... wait for it, you. Everybody is unique to themselves, a vast universe containing numerous experiences and interactions.
Think about the time you had your first spoonful of ice cream, drove your first car, had your first kiss. This is Vanilla, or Chocolate ice cream, whichever you prefer. Now think about a hundred of these universes, aka. Strawberry, Birthday cake, Butter scotch etc. That's a lot of very unique experiences, and ideologies right there. Now imagine a thousand, a million? Make that 6 billion unique viewpoints towards the world, every single one of them shaped by the experiences that they have uniquely had in their own little universes.
Think about a time when you first saw a person. That could be any person really. What went through your mind? Did you make some conclusions about this person by just looking at them, having not even talked to them at all prior to this interaction? See, the thing is most people do.
(this is where I bring in race, so if you are offended you might want to stop reading)
When we see a scrawny looking Asian/Indian kid with a huge backpack most of us think nerd, probably a computer whiz, and introverted. If he turns out to be those things, we have immediately belittled him by classifying this person as such. "Well why do you say that, Shaek?" Say that this kid develops an app that trades stocks automatically, or finds an alternative energy source. "Oh he's asian that's what they do anyway," is surely a thought that is going through some people's minds, even if only at the subconscious level. Forgetting this kid worked just as hard, if not harder than someone without expectations put on them is a convenience that all of us in society enjoy. Belittling his success is an example of social inequality.
Say that asian kids excel in standardized testing while other minority groups like hispanics and African Americans don't do so well, hypothetically speaking. Say that all of the Asians, Hispanics, African American, Caucasians were respectively grouped together and judged respectively for a College admission process. This is Affirmative action, and it upholds the expectations that society has set for minorities. It should be insulting that these generic assumptions be made. Are Hispanics and African American's "dumber" than other groups, hence they don't do as well, and we as society need to give them a free card (It couldn't possibly be that we are testing them on the wrong material is it)? Are we going to assume that "holistically" speaking, Asians are smart and that they don't have a social life? These expectations placed on minority groups is essentially another hurdle that these groups have to jump to achieve the same level of credibility as someone who didn't have these expectations placed on them.
Now I'm talking to you guys out there. Remember a time when you played sports with a female collage, and she showed you up, and even if that hasn't happened to you yet, just imagine. Now you probably made some excuses in you head, telling yourself that you weren't going as hard as you could, or if you really tried you could have beaten her. Well that's another expectation that we place on females. Females are scientifically weaker, and slower than males, however, that's only as a group. You aren't a group. You are one sampling of that group. And the fact that she beat you when statistically she should be weaker further emphasizes the fact that she had to work harder to get to the same level as a male player.
Hillary Clinton was the first female Presidential candidate (I need to check my facts), Obama was the first African-American President; however, most people don't say Caucasian President George W. Bush, Caucasian President Bill Clinton. The title gives these people higher expectations, a different standard that they are held to. If the President of the United States is held at a different standard because of his race, imagine the doors that never opened for some, because of a racial or gender bias.
Preconceived notions: racial and gender bias, have plagued this world since humanity could communicate. Remembering that each individual is a vast universe, such as yourselves will hopefully quell the nativity that persists in society. Removing your preconceived notions about someone when you first meet them could be the first step to eliminating societal expectations. Who knows, that might even lead to true social equality (Ironically probably more naive than anything I have written thus far). For now I'll get back to enjoying my Vanilla ice cream with that cherry on top; who knows, maybe I'll try Chocolate tomorrow.
How do we perceive life, and what makes us so sure or unsure about our ideals and viewpoints? Each and every single one of you has ideas, dreams and insecurities about... wait for it, you. Everybody is unique to themselves, a vast universe containing numerous experiences and interactions.
Think about the time you had your first spoonful of ice cream, drove your first car, had your first kiss. This is Vanilla, or Chocolate ice cream, whichever you prefer. Now think about a hundred of these universes, aka. Strawberry, Birthday cake, Butter scotch etc. That's a lot of very unique experiences, and ideologies right there. Now imagine a thousand, a million? Make that 6 billion unique viewpoints towards the world, every single one of them shaped by the experiences that they have uniquely had in their own little universes.
Think about a time when you first saw a person. That could be any person really. What went through your mind? Did you make some conclusions about this person by just looking at them, having not even talked to them at all prior to this interaction? See, the thing is most people do.
(this is where I bring in race, so if you are offended you might want to stop reading)
When we see a scrawny looking Asian/Indian kid with a huge backpack most of us think nerd, probably a computer whiz, and introverted. If he turns out to be those things, we have immediately belittled him by classifying this person as such. "Well why do you say that, Shaek?" Say that this kid develops an app that trades stocks automatically, or finds an alternative energy source. "Oh he's asian that's what they do anyway," is surely a thought that is going through some people's minds, even if only at the subconscious level. Forgetting this kid worked just as hard, if not harder than someone without expectations put on them is a convenience that all of us in society enjoy. Belittling his success is an example of social inequality.
Say that asian kids excel in standardized testing while other minority groups like hispanics and African Americans don't do so well, hypothetically speaking. Say that all of the Asians, Hispanics, African American, Caucasians were respectively grouped together and judged respectively for a College admission process. This is Affirmative action, and it upholds the expectations that society has set for minorities. It should be insulting that these generic assumptions be made. Are Hispanics and African American's "dumber" than other groups, hence they don't do as well, and we as society need to give them a free card (It couldn't possibly be that we are testing them on the wrong material is it)? Are we going to assume that "holistically" speaking, Asians are smart and that they don't have a social life? These expectations placed on minority groups is essentially another hurdle that these groups have to jump to achieve the same level of credibility as someone who didn't have these expectations placed on them.
Now I'm talking to you guys out there. Remember a time when you played sports with a female collage, and she showed you up, and even if that hasn't happened to you yet, just imagine. Now you probably made some excuses in you head, telling yourself that you weren't going as hard as you could, or if you really tried you could have beaten her. Well that's another expectation that we place on females. Females are scientifically weaker, and slower than males, however, that's only as a group. You aren't a group. You are one sampling of that group. And the fact that she beat you when statistically she should be weaker further emphasizes the fact that she had to work harder to get to the same level as a male player.
Hillary Clinton was the first female Presidential candidate (I need to check my facts), Obama was the first African-American President; however, most people don't say Caucasian President George W. Bush, Caucasian President Bill Clinton. The title gives these people higher expectations, a different standard that they are held to. If the President of the United States is held at a different standard because of his race, imagine the doors that never opened for some, because of a racial or gender bias.
Preconceived notions: racial and gender bias, have plagued this world since humanity could communicate. Remembering that each individual is a vast universe, such as yourselves will hopefully quell the nativity that persists in society. Removing your preconceived notions about someone when you first meet them could be the first step to eliminating societal expectations. Who knows, that might even lead to true social equality (Ironically probably more naive than anything I have written thus far). For now I'll get back to enjoying my Vanilla ice cream with that cherry on top; who knows, maybe I'll try Chocolate tomorrow.
