i LIVE in a MELTING POT

Yea for diversity. Nay for stereotypes.

I have countlessly been a victim of stereotypes as a Korean-American female living in the United States. I used to live in Warren until the age of three before moving to Troy. My parents actually decided to move because of the unbearable prejudice there. Because of the kids that would stretch their eyes back with their fingers and shout “ching chong” in my face. But of course back then I had no idea what they were saying nor the implications of such gestures.

My family moved to Troy, an accepting, diverse community, and honestly, it was a lot better. But I soon realized that even here, some people had this same bias. My first grade teacher had me go to ESL. I was perfectly fine at speaking English. I still remember the first question of my final test (with a diagram): is the crayon inside the box or outside of the box? And there were those times that my classmates would go up to me and ask if I was Chinese or Japanese. I just answered neither. People would ask me where I was from. And I answered America because I was, after all, born here. I wasn’t chosen to be on the white girl’s soccer team because “Asians were bad at sports.”

I thought racial prejudice was the only thing I had to deal with, but I turned out to be wrong. My tall friend was favored for gym class teams even though we both kind of knew I was better. Even just a few weeks ago, a boy in my class told me that “girls have no sense of humor” because I didn’t laugh at his unfunny meme.

I hate that it’s this way, but everyone carries bias, and the enemy of this battle is ourselves. Articles and experiments that disprove these stereotypes such as ones like “Are Women Really More Talkative Than Men?” help to educate others and relieve bias. Many in my class claim that talkative women is not a bad thing. I somewhat agree because the word "talkative" carries a relatively neutral connotation. However, the word "talkative" could also be synonymous to chatty, which has a slightly negative connotation and possibly signify superficiality. This could have a negative impact on women.
I wonder if society will ever have an unbiased society. What do you think?

hi. i am here to watch.

Yea for opinions. Nay for conflict.

New semester, new essay. Or two essays. Two very-relevant-in-today's-society essays. And they're about sensitive topics. Talking about these topics? It can almost get worse than walking on thin ice.

Words must be chosen carefully in order to avoid conflict. I guess that's what I'm afraid of. Conflict. I genuinely admire those that have the guts to go out there and say everything on their mind. Even if they're ignorant because they can always be educated. Opinions are weapons, blunt like a baseball bat or jabbing like a knife's point. If I take out my weapon, I don't want thousands of knives (of judgement and insults?) coming at me. To be honest, it's more of a fear of "wrong opinions" or "stupid questions." I know those that are quick to reply, "There are no wrong opinions!" or "There are no stupid questions!" but I think it's fair to say people are attacked all the time for their opinions and questions.

The fear of being wrong may be very common among people, but I think this should change. Asking questions and vocalizing opinions, even if they seem ridiculous, must become normalized in order to gather knowledge and advance from past mistakes. People should not insult the ignorant, but educate them. If people make mistakes, they are not “canceled.” I advise people not to make fun of mistakes, but correct the mistakes. Everyone should work together to prevent later mistakes. One mistake in judgement does not dictate a person’s personality, opinions, or thinking.

I’ve decided I’ll try talking more for my own advancement. I encourage my fellow silent bystanders to also step up, and for a selfish (the good kind) reason: advancement.