Over all view of this semester

From the first day of class until the last day, all of the work has been meaningful. The conversations were impactful and new authors having similar conversations as I were introduced.  

Delpit " the unspoken rules" The way I have always felt like there are just things I did not pick up and felt left out in, yet no one spoke about it because so many assume it's common knowledge. How rules work for those who know it and how it impowers them. These rules make it easy to point out the foreigner, how we continue to uphold this power every time we just watch people learn the rules and not teach them. 

Rodriguez- Even though he was big on integration and assimilation. What he wrote about is a huge part of my story. Spanish is a secrete language that so many are pushed to let go of in the name of being American enough to do better for the family. He had times he wishes to have gotten both worlds and the loneliness of it. I feel like she sided because it's difficult to feel like you not enough on either ends of the world around us.

Hehir, Toward Ending Ableism in Education- The family that I worked with for years is the reason why this topic is important to me. The families I have watched fight for their child's education and importance to humanity is heart breaking. We can easily change so much but fail to because we focus on the disability and not the integration of the person and society accepting them where and how they are. Especially with autism and wanting to have them mask enough so that they are a part of the working sad, lonely, able body people.

Sex and Gender-based Systems

I believe that we shouldn't hide anything from the youth. There are age-appropriate conversations that can be had and done so effortlessly with cis-gendered students. We talk about love and dating to children and don't assume it's an agenda if the characters are straight. We romanticize innocent play to say they like you and don't find it weird but make it an issue if its two boys showing this type of action. We are hypocrites when it comes to this topic, we will say its nature but ignore all the parts of nature that's queer.

     "Talking about “bullies” makes it seem like an individual problem and glosses over homophobia, sexism, racism, Islamophobia—all the critical issues that underlie conflicts among children and adults." 

This is often done to make it easier for the oppressors to talk pretend that they are inclusive and care but honestly bullying is just an umbrella term to all the issues. We don't address any of the problems when we try to address bullying. 

    "The cornerstone of nurturing classrooms and schools is community, where everyone talks out problems, gets to know each other, and feels that they are part of something larger than themselves. Part of this is emphasizing empathy, which is at the heart of both solidarity and social justice teaching,"

This quote just repeats what I believe in and that's being uncomfortable and growing from it instead of finding the middle ground and glossing over everything. From that discomfort is where we find true solutions and are able to reflect how we choose to treat other differences. Classrooms are the best place to learn this because it's meant to be a space to explore and question, not a place that pushes beliefs and "answers". 

Also going over the policies, I know many schools and people who do not uphold this view of welcoming the conversation about gender and more. They can happily talk about other topics but are angry about having to practice holding space for other communities. 

Hehir, on ableism and Taylor & Butler Video

     The reading and the video have me questioning the meaning of being a person. What does it mean to be normal? who created the rules of society and what's acceptable? Why do we struggle to see the humanity in anyone that doesn't fit the norm? 

We have built a life that constantly requires someone to be better but basing that off of the ideal person. Usually meaning a white, able body man, after him is a white able body woman with blond hair and blue eyes. Leaving majority of us out of the standard of perfection. Like many social and structural issues, we have improved on the treatment of those who are oppressed and alienated but we haven't changed the systems that uphold them, and we turn a blind eye to them when we are not affected. We are far from being an inclusive society and I fair that for the disabled community the change is greater than what we can ever understand. Things as simple as a cross walk can be made inaccessible when we create from a place of ignorance and lack of consideration. In providence there are crosswalk/speed bump, for those on a wheelchair this is a dangerous way to cross the street and can easily lead to falling over because you are being required to walk on the strip lines. We also have many buildings lacking access for those who need walking assistance. I can list many things in our life that we take for granted. Like uber, uber isn't as inclusive as we would like to think. How many vehicles are actually handicap accessible? Did you care before I asked the question?  Do you think it's as accessible as regular uber? The answer is they have vehicle for wheelchairs, but it was difficult to use and find and I was just trying it out on my phone. Also, the website claims that I can see the ride for them on the app but there wasn't any or any in my area. All this to say we are far from being better humans. The idea of inclusivity shouldn't be taught in just social work careers or teaching, it should be taught in every field because we all interact with people and the choices, we make today affect us all. Until it affects us, we live a carefree life, only those affected care.