Immigration is a bigger problem than you think

    I decided to step out of my comfort zone for my SAMO and visit the Northbrook Public Library to see the screening of American Creed. I have never seen the film before and had no previous knowledge about what the film was going to be like since I wanted to go in with an open mind. Nonetheless I went with my brother Steven (50000cities1.home.blog) to the library. After a very short drive we walked into the library’s theater and I was quite happy to see familiar faces of people who were in different CST classes at Glenbrook North who came to see the film as well.  The movie was free was a nice relief since I didn’t have a lot of cash on me. The theater was packed with a ton of different citizens who came to watch the movie.

The film was about immigration and how everyone went through it at one point to get to America but how immigration has changed to the point how now people are discriminated because they came to America and how people want to kick them out of America and build a wall so nobody can enter illegally. The film started with an interview from Joe Maddon who is the manager for the Chicago Cubs. When I saw his face I was extremely excited. Despite not being a Cubs fan I was excited because I am a huge baseball fan and I couldn’t wait to connect baseball to my english class. In the film Joe maddon talked about how his hometown hazelton proposed a law to fine property owners and businesses for hiring people who were illegal immigrants. He was not in support of it and because of this he created a community center trying to ease tensions for the dominican population.

My brother and I with a friend who we ran into at the movie

When I saw this it made me think about America today. Clearly immigration is a huge issue in our country today. There are people today who are awful and discriminate on others just because they are not “american”. There are bosses who won’t hire people just because they were not born America even though they can’t control that. This kid I know is from Chile. He’s a really nice kid and is on swimming and track with me. He is apart of a foreign exchange program so he is only here for one year. It pains me to imagine that if he lived here longer he may get discriminated just because he is not American. This film about immigration truly opened my eyes to the hardships some people have to face.

This film connected to my English class. In English we were assigned a project where I was assigned to read the book White Fragility. White fragility is about how if you question people on being racist they get really defensive about it. This book connected with the film because it really made me think about how people would react if we questioned them on immigration. Through my knowledge of reading the book and being in CST I came up with the conclusion that they would in fact get very angry over the accusation instead of trying to learn about immigration.

    I am very glad that I chose to go to the library since it opened me up to a whole new field in immigration. If it wasn’t for this project I never would have gone to see this film. I learned that there are people in this world who discriminate others just because they are not American and how we can be shielded  away from it because we don’t see it on a day to day basis but it is an important situation. I strongly recommend taking the time out of your day to watch American Creed when it is televised on PBS.

Now is the time to stop white fragility

White fragility is not anything new. In fact it has been around for decades. After the civil war happened people realized how it was completely unethical for humans to own slaves. If you are caught acting racist people and society will immediately shun you and think of you as an awful person. People care about their image and most importantly care about their reputation. They care about it to the point that if someone decides to question them then they will get really defensive and deny it. The thing is however that even if someone does not mean to be racist they can still be racist. In my English CST class we read a book about microaggressions and how you can say something even if it is really innocent and it can come off as racist. I was quite intrigued by this topic and decided to further my education by reading a book called white fragility. The story talked about how if you try to confront white people about racist actions that they previously made, they will get really defensive and will deny everything to protect their reputation instead of trying to figure out ways to think before they speak and not be try to not be racist anymore even if they didn’t mean it. The story said people will find excuses to say that they are not racist by saying that they have friends who are african american or that they “don’t see color” which just makes them sound even more racist. The story also talked about how people didn’t want to go through racism training at work because they said that they already knew about racism and they refused to do it. When I read this in the story it instantly caught my attention.

Racism ends when we learn about how to end it

At Glenbrook North the majority of the student body is white and people act like they are not racist by trying to defend themselves when confronted about it. Because I notice this in school I was very interested about the topic of white privilege and why it is crucial that we notice white fragility and realize how much it matters which is why I decided to research about it so I can learn a little more about it.

I read a article written by Robin Diangelo and was quite fascinated with what I learned while reading the article. People talk about how their is still racism in our society but nobody is actively trying to make change for the better. At certain jobs there are courses that the employees are required to take to learn about racism and which fragility but unfortunately people think of this more as a burden or something they are required to take instead of thinking of it as a chance to learn. They feel like they already know everything that they need to know about racism. Robin Diangelo described the reaction people give when they have to take courses that teach about racism when he said “So-called progressive whites may not respond with anger, but may still insulate themselves via claims that they are beyond the need for engaging with the content because they “already had a class on this” or “already know this.(55)”

This is a big example of white fragility and why it is extremely problematic in America today. How are we as a nation supposed to solve the issue on racism when people aren’t willing to learn about it. People feel like why should they have to learn something about racism if they are not racist. Because of white fragility we cannot make any change together as a nation if we are not teaching each other about racism.

People learning about racism

As I did even more research on white fragility I found another article that talked about the article that Robin Diangelo wrote. This article was written by Jonathan Church he discussed the reason for white fragility and when I read it I realized that it was quite troubling the article said that the reason for white fragility was “a deeply internalized sense of superiority and entitlement” but they aren’t consciously aware of it. As a result, they experience “race-based stress” when faced with a challenge to their “racial worldview” because they perceive it to be an affront to their “identities as good, moral people”—an “unfair moral offense,” as well as an attack on their “rightful place in the hierarchy.” This is awful and shows that because we have white fragility racism will still live on in America because we are no longer trying to make ourselves even with african american we just want to make being a white person seem even better.

After researching white fragility I realized that if in the future my job requires that we take a racism course I will be very excited to do this because it will help better myself in the future and how to better my peers.

Talk through your problems

     For my english course I had to choose one book and read it and then create a project based on it. There was a list of books that I was able to choose from so after carefully looking over all of the books I decided to read White Fragility It’s so hard for people to talk about racism by Robin Diangelo.  I wasn’t particularly excited to read a book but out of all the books we got to choose from I knew that this book would be the book that I would be most interested in reading.

     This book discussed about racism and how it is never talked about and how if you confront someone about it they can get angered. This instantly got my attention. I have a friend who is african american. Whenever I hang out with him there is never a problem that relates to race. We never even talk about racism. I never discussed racism before because I never wanted him to be angry because I didn’t want him to think that the only reason I was friends with him was to prove I was not racist because in the book that I read it showed how people who say that they aren’t racist because they have a friend who is back does in fact make them racist, and if you decide to confront them about it then it will make them angry. I also realized that talking about racism is quite an uncomfortable topic to talk about. I am a white male raised in Northbrook Illinois which is a quite wealthy Jewish area. In this town I am not a minority in fact I am never a minority there since I am always with someone who is white and Jewish so I never really feel like I do not fit in somewhere. However for my neighbor while he lives in Northbrook as well he does not go through the same thing that I get to where if I want to I could always be with someone who is just like my race.

Everyone is equal

     At the school that I attend there is not a lot of people that have the same race that my neighbor has. In fact there are less than twenty African Americans that attend my school that has around 2,000 people. That means that less than one percent of my school is african american. I have absolutely no idea how that makes him feel and what he goes through on a daily basis. I can go through a full day of school and not think about my race for a second but I can’t say the same for him.  

    I learned through my book that often people don’t talk about race because they do not want to get blamed for being racist. I have realized that is a hundred percent correct. When I read about that it reminded me of when I read White privilege: unpacking the invisible backpack by Peggy Mcintosh in my English CST class. It reminded me of the quote that said “As a white person, I realized I had been taught about racism as something which puts others at a disadvantage, but had been taught not to see one of its corollary aspects, white privilege, which puts me at an advantage. (White privilege: unpacking the invisible backpack)” We often think about racism as the idea that blacks are less than us, so when we try to combat racism we don’t see ourselves as being on a pedestal.

    Through reading both of White Privilege and White Fragility I learned that we need to talk about racism and ways that we can be equal so that way we can combat it and find ways to end it. Being white does put me at an advantage but it shouldn’t. When reading white fragility it said that we need to talk together because if we don’t talk together than there is no way that we can end it. I care a lot about my friend and think of him as being equal to me. It hurts me that there is a chance that he thinks that I am more important than him in other people’s eyes just because I am white. I am going to take what I learned in White Privilege and White Fragility and talk to him about racism in a comfortable manner and make sure that he knows that I do not think of myself in a higher standard than him. I am super happy that I decided to read white fragility and I believe that my friendship with my neighbor will be a lot stronger because of it.

Stop the little things before they add up

     Racism is still very prevalent in our society. We as a nation may believe that we have moved on from racism and that it is a thing in the past but if we are being honest with ourselves and honest with ourselves as a nation we can agree racism is something that is not completely out of the picture quite yet. Microaggressions are currently fueling racism as we speak.  Merriam Webster defines microaggressions as “a comment or action that subtly and often unconsciously or unintentionally expresses a prejudiced attitude toward a member of a marginalized group”. It is common in our society and the reason for it is that you have uneducated people who blurt out something that they don’t necessarily mean to say and in reality it is awful what they say, and they don’t even notice that it can hurt someone tremendously. When someone makes a microaggression generally it is because they think they are being funny, or they just simply are not thinking about what they are saying. The person who makes the comment has no intention to hurt you but little to their knowledge it can hurt you in ways they can not imagine.

People working together

     In the book Citizen An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine she documents examples of microaggressions that either she or her friends have experienced in the world and if you take the time to read the book you would not believe how uneducated some people sound with what they are saying to other human beings. One example Claudia Rankine used that struck me was when she said “And when the woman with the multiple degrees says, I didn’t know black women could get cancer, instinctively you take two steps back” (45). After reading that I was absolutely horrified, how can a woman who has multiple degrees not know that a black woman could get cancer. Humans are able to get cancer and by her saying she didn’t know black woman could get cancer it’s as if she is saying that she doesn’t think that black woman should be considered humans. It makes her think that she is on a higher level than the black woman. If I were there I would have told her off and told her how uneducated she sounds and make her realize what she was implying when she said that foolish sentence. We as humans have a responsibility to stick up for each other by saying the hard things that some people are to scared to say because we would want someone to stick up for us if we were in the same position that they were in. By taking a microaggression something the person says without thinking and probably means nothing by it and does not want to harm you and showing them how much it affects you, you show them how powerful words can be and how much they can harm someone by saying something that is absolutely foolish. When the person said she did not know that black woman could get cancer I don’t believe that it was her intention to dehumanize you but that is how it came off and by telling her about it, it could help change a person to think before they speak which is something we need in this world.

     Some people may think that it is a lot easier to ignore the situation since the person probably did not mean anything by it. The problem is however that if you ignore it the first time then they will think that there is nothing wrong with what they said and will just continue to throw out microaggressions whenever they feel like it and eventually you won’t want to be near them anymore because they will be racist and they have no idea that it will bother you. “We need to practice using our skills and tools with others, and experiment with expressing our new views and speaking out when we disagree, instead of staying silent” (621).

You have to speak up

    We are equipped with a very powerful tool and that is the tool that we have a voice. If we disagree with someone or think that they are wrong we have the voice to put them in their place and put out the fire. Nobody wants to be that guy. The guy who tells people when they are out of place for something that they said but it needs to happen. In fact it is crucial for someone to speak out against what they said. When people hear this comment it could really hurt them and effect them unfortunately they are scared to speak out because if they speak out they fear that person won’t like them anymore or will make fun of them. That is why you need to be the person to speak out on microaggressions because if they don’t like you anymore or they do make fun of you then they truly aren’t your friends and honestly you shouldn’t associate with them anymore because then they are truly a mean person. Together we can help put out the fire that is microaggressions and stop something that affects a lot of people and help the bully realize that sometimes words can be very powerful.

Be Nice to Everyone

     I decided to step out of my comfort zone for my SAMO and went to see Dear Evan Hansen in Chicago. I have never seen the play before but everyone goes crazy when they hear about the play and are in love with it. so I had no clue what to expect but I was excited hoping for a great play. Nonetheless I went with my brother Steven (50000cities1.home.blog) and my temple youth group to the play since they offered an amazing deal that included the show, dinner, and transportation to the theater. After a long bus ride I finally arrived to the theater. I hoped that the play would be good since I paid $100 for it but I also knew I would have a good time since I was with my friends. People told me that the play would be sad and that I should bring tissues since I would sob through the entire play. I went in expecting sad but I had no idea would completely change my perspective and open me up to a very difficult conversation to talk about in mental health.

    As I was watching the play something stood out to me. Each character told a different story and it was not only the main character that was the one who was going through a difficult time. Evan the main character had problems in the fact that he felt like he had no friends and had to pretend to be someone that he is not so that way people would notice him and like him. The mom had problems in the fact that she felt like she couldn’t do enough to give her son the life that she thought he deserved. Connor Murphy had problems in his life which sadly made him end his life. By him taking that action it destroyed his family since they thought it was their fault, which is the absolute worst feeling to ever have. Evans family friend Jared even had problems in the fact that he had to make up things that he did since he thought that it made him sound cool when really he was hurting inside.

Jared from Dear Evan Hansen

    I was sitting there watching the play and how sad and hard the concepts were to talk about and then I realized that this play can connect with the story we read in English called The Person Sitting Next To You. In the story it talks about how you may think your life can be hard but you have no idea how hard it is for the person sitting next to you. I thought about  how much this can relate to Jared, Evan Hansen’s family friend. He lies about all the stuff that he did over the summer when the play starts, and how him and Evan are not friends, instead they are “family friends”. I realized later on in the play that Jared is in the same boat that Evan is in by having no friends since Jared never interacted with anyone except Evan. It is very sad but it made me think about in school how if there are people who act like jerks is it really because they feel lonely inside and don’t want to show it. Just like the person sitting next to you, you have no idea what they do when they go home or how if they act in school is really just an act. I am very lucky to say that I act just like how I really am in public. I have fun and know that I have good friends to the point where I don’t care what other people think of me. The fact that in the play Jared isn’t able to act like himself is really troubling and sad. From now on when I see people in school who act like that I am going to treat them in a nice way because you really do have no idea what the person next to you is going through.

 

My youth group at Dear Evan Hansen

   After the play was over I didn’t realize how hard the play impacted me. While I did not cry I had sad feelings and really thought about mental health which I have never really thought about before. After the play ended  I’ve started practicing this in class and outside of the classroom by being nice to everyone.. I never really realized how powerful a play could be to people and how each play has a million different interpretations since if anyone else has seen the play they might not have thought about Jared but about someone else instead.

    I am very glad that I chose to go to Dear Evan Hansen since it opened me up to a whole new field in mental health. If it wasn’t for this play I don’t know if I would have thought about other people and what they are going through. I learned to appreciate people and treat them well instead of just looking at it them for two seconds, judging them, and then walking away. I strongly recommend taking the time out of your day to go to see Dear Evan Hansen when it comes back to Chicago. You will not regret it.

Unification

     Any group that exists has one goal. To be successful. There are many ways to be successful but they all can’t happen unless you are united. Through working on my mashboard I found out that the word unity is everywhere and has such a strong meaning. Merriam Webster defines it as the quality or state of not being multiple. That means everyone needs to be on the same page with the same viewpoint so that way they can accomplish the goal of being successful. Through working on my mashboard I found out that unity relates to so much of what I am working on, so I decided to show examples of how unity relates to each text that I am reading.

     I read the memoir glimmer of hope. This story was about the survivors from Marjory Stoneman Douglas and how they are trying to create change in school. After the Valentine’s day massacre which left 17 innocent kids dead the group March for our lives was formed to make sure that kids felt safe in school. They held a huge rally in Washington DC where thousands upon thousands of people showed up to show support for the kids. Unfortunately someone who has the power to help create change was not there. When asked about it the kids said “too bad the president couldn’t make it he was golfing” (Glimmer of Hope 37). When you have people trying to create change to a very heated issue, it is insulting to not have the president in attendance to at least show support. He doesn’t need to approve of what they are doing but the least he he could do is be there and acknowledge that they are trying to create change. If the president can’t come then it shows that America one of the most powerful countries in the world is not united which is a very big issue. Nothing can be accomplished if there is no unity because if we can’t agree on anything then we can’t solve issues.

Aug 30, 2018 Opinion North America. “How Diversity Can Boost Performance.”

     The second amendment is a very controversial amendment. The right to bear arms. Half the people support the amendment whereas the other half support the amendment but think that the amendment should be limited where not everyone can carry a weapon and they should not be allowed to carry assault rifles. There are two sides one republicans and the other are democrats. March for our lives one goal is for kids to feel safe in school. When asked about this they said “It shouldn’t be a democratic or republican ideology to want to save lives” (March for our lives 76). Everyone has that common goal and we are united in the case that we want to save lives and have our kids feel safe, even if we have different viewpoints we need to be united at the very least and work together to solve this issue before we lose more lives.

     Everyone needs to be aware of what is going on in this country. To be united people need to be informed of what is going on and have their voices heard. “We live in a complex world we often don’t know what’s going on and we won’t be able to understand it’s complexity” (Willing to be disturbed 2). As a normal 17 year old highschool teenager I have no idea what some of the stuff is going on in our country. If we want to be united everybody needs to have at least a little idea for what is going on in this country. If we want to be the most powerful we need to be united. “There is more power in unity than division” (Brainyquote.com/topics/unity). This can be accomplished as long as we are united.

“Unification.” Caribbean Muslims, 2 June 2017, http://www.caribbeanmuslims.com/unification/

Works Cited

Galston, William A. “Will Trump’s Call for Unity in the State of the Union Last?” Brookings.edu, The Brookings Institution, 6 Feb. 2019, http://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2019/02/05/will-trumps-call-for-unity-in-the-state-of-the-union-last/.

March for our lives. A Glimmer of Hope. 47North, 2018.

“Unification Quotes.” BrainyQuote, Xplore, http://www.brainyquote.com/topics/unification.

Wheatley, Margaret J. Turning to One Another: Simple Conversations to Restore Hope to the Future. Berrett-Koehler, 2014.

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

      I decided to step out of my comfort zone for my SAMO and visit the Chicago Cultural Center. I have never been there before and the only previous knowledge I had of this place was that it was there to celebrate the diverse groups of cultures that Chicago holds, so I had no clue what to expect. Nonetheless, I went with my brother Steven and my cousin Isaac (50000cities1.home.blog) to the museum. After a hour car ride, I arrived to an enormous building.  The museum was free to get in which was a nice relief since I didn’t have a lot of money. The museum was gigantic with multiple floors filled of diverse cultures.

     As my cousin, brother, and I walked through the museum, we stumbled upon the African American exhibit. As we strolled through looking at various artifacts and pieces of artwork, one piece really struck out to me. It was a photograph created about an unknown designer talking about how we need to work together for victory. It had a picture of three soldiers with three different shades of colors. One soldier was yellow, one was orange, and the final one was brown. By looking at the picture I inferred that it was during a war and most likely at a time when there was discrimination based on race, and that it was against a different country since we were going to war.

Photograph by Unknown photographer

     As I stared at the photograph, I realized how much times have changed from when this photograph was most likely created. While there still is discrimination based off of race, it is nowhere as bad as it used to be. My neighbor is African American and we are around the same age. We are great friends and he is over at my house constantly whether it’s playing fortnite or playing basketball, or even just hanging out. It pains me to imagine that if this was fifty years ago, I would be judged off of my friendship. I am so happy that times have changed and by looking at that photograph, I realized that must have been the start of the civil rights movement.

    This photograph connected to my English class. In English we were assigned a memoir project where I was assigned to read the book Glimmer of Hope by the founders of March for our Lives. This book connected with the photograph because both were tasked with working together to accomplish a common goal. In both, people had to solve an issue that affected every person. While they may have different viewpoints, they found a task and worked toward it to make change.

    I am very glad that I chose to go to the Chicago Cultural Center since it opened me up to a whole new field. If it wasn’t for this project I never would have gone to this museum. I learned that there is a huge range of different cultures and that we have to appreciate them and most importantly respect everyone’s cultures. I strongly recommend taking the time out of your day to go to the Chicago Cultural Center.

Myself at the Chicago Cultural Center

Let your conscience guide you to a better life

     As Jiminy Cricket always said “Let your conscience be your guide”(Pinocchio). Life while it can be considered complicated always gives you choices. You could either do the right thing or the wrong thing. As humans we naturally want to choose what benefits us the most but that might not always be the right decision as it could hurt people in a million different ways. Our conscience is the thing that makes us think about our decisions. If we end up hurting someone we feel guilt from it and it hurts us knowing that we hurt someone.

     Conscience is  showing that “Human behavior has consequences for the welfare of others” (Ethical Reasoning 4). As humans we have a very powerful quality that should be considered both very good and very bad whereas we can make a person have a great day in a few seconds but we can also ruin someone’s day in just a few seconds. By making a compliment to someone we can make them feel like they are important and they will carry this confidence in with them for the rest of the day. By hurting someone by saying a rude comment, one that takes just a few seconds to say, you can hurt someone more than you can imagine. They can carry the comment you made for weeks and become depressed by it. No one wants to see anyone hurting like that and the reason for that is because of our conscience.

     Everyone has a conscience, the problem is that despite us trying to be really good people and following our conscience sometimes our conscience doesn’t realize problems in our society. Peggy Mcintosh best describes this in her article Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack when she says “Whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege” (McIntosh). For you to have a good conscience the first step is to recognize what is wrong so you can correct those ways. If your not able to recognize what is wrong then your conscience won’t be in effect since you will feel like you did nothing wrong.

     It can be very hard to follow your conscience at times. When I was younger there was this game called Madden which was on the WII and my brother and I loved to play it together. Every day after school we would come home and play for hours until it was time to go to bed, and then we would do the same thing the next day. One day when my brother wasn’t home I scratched the disc and it would no longer work. Rather than take responsibility for my actions  I blamed it on my younger cousin. I felt really terrible after this because my brother was pretty crushed about my actions. As my conscience was going back and forth about whether or not I should tell my brother the truth. I realized that by lying and saying that my cousin did it, Steven would have a built up anger toward my cousin and my cousin would never know why. I came clean to Steven and he was still upset but felt better that I told him the truth. When I stumbled upon a quote in the book The Thinker’s Guide To Ethical Reasoning I remembered what happened when I was younger. The quote said “Wherein we strive to see things and people as they are and to consider the welfare and needs of others as well as our own” (Thinker’s Guide To Ethical Reasoning 31). I realized that why I felt so bad about what I said was because of my conscience since I didn’t want to see my brother hurt because it ended up hurting me.

     While in that instance I practiced using my conscience sometimes I ignored it. When I was younger there was a spelling test at school. One of the students was very smart and held all the answers to the test. I decided to copy off of him since I wasn’t very confident in my knowledge of the words. When the teacher passed back our tests later on I got 100% on the test. Rather than being excited I felt awful for cheating since I didn’t really earn that grade and I really respected my teacher and felt like I let her down. I decided not to tell the teacher about my grade since I knew that I would get into a big amount of trouble so I kept quiet. I struggled with it since I knew the consequences my actions would have and also how disappointed my parents would be in me. I learned that from now on you always have to say the truth since otherwise it can carry over years later.

     We all have a conscience. Sometimes we listen to it and do the right thing and sometimes we ignore it and do the wrong thing. If you learn one thing through this blog, it is to listen to your conscience and let it guide you to the right thing.

Wikimedia Commons

School

My Schooling gave me no training

As a white person

I must have been assuming something else was true

Since hierarchies in our society our interlocking

My Schooling gave me no training

I can be pretty sure of having my voice heard in a group

If I wish to arrange to be in the company of people of my race

My Schooling gave me no training

It shapes our socialization

To each issue of oppression

My Schooling gave me no training

We love and trust

To look up to

We might learn at school

Boys are expected to fight

It’s okay for wealthy kids

We might learn at school

Most of the kids who drop out are from the south side

Jocks don’t have to do the same work that nerds do to pass.

At school

We may not notice that they aren’t fair

We get consistent similar messages

At school

There are many ways to sit and listen for the differences

I can see my beliefs and assumptions

At school

There are many ways to sit and listen

I can’t understand why

School

This isn’t easy

What you say disturbs me

How could anyone believe something like that

School

There are many ways to sit and listen

I’m accustomed to sitting there nodding my head

At School

These moments are great gifts

I still value them

At school

Helps you learn something

I’m able to see something new

At school

We can’t be creative if we refuse to be confused

If we can move through the fear and enter the abyss, we are rewarded greatly

School

I know I need a better understanding of what’s going on

I need to learn and value your perspective

At school

Photos by Wikimedia Commons

 

If you open up your eyes

     I decided to step out of my comfort zone for my SAMO and visit the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. I have never been to an art museum before since no one in my family is a huge fan of art so I had no clue what to expect. Nonetheless I went with my brother Steven (50000cities1.home.blog) to the museum. After a long car ride I finally arrived to a huge building.  As I arrived I was super happy that the museum was free. I knew there would be a ton of artwork there, but I had no clue that the content inside of the building would completely change my perspective and open me up to a whole new world of artwork.

     As I was walking through the museum one thing stood out to me. Each art piece told a different story and each art piece was up for interpretation. One art piece that stood out to me was a black person holding a picture of people jumping off a boat. I interpreted it as a boat that was coming to America and the people on board were illegal immigrants. When the boat was caught by security the people on board all jumped off to swim for their lives. While looking at the picture I realized that all the people on the boat were adults. These people who were jumping off the boat had families that they were leaving behind to come to America.

Photo by Xaviera Simmons

     I was sitting there staring at the painting thinking about if it was ethically right to leave a family behind and start a new life in America. I know they were probably thinking that they were doing the right thing and trying to help their family out by creating more money, but you can turn around and say that they were not helping their family out. Instead they were turning their backs on their family leaving them behind in their old country to create a better place for themselves. This thought was very conflicting to me because my grandparents came to America from Iran. Would their decision be considered ethically right? Leaving behind their parents and siblings for the chance of a  better life in America. I thought about how much better my life currently is living in America and how different my life would have been had I lived in Iran. Then I thought about how my great grandparents would have felt about my grandparents leaving Iran. Leaving them behind thousands of miles away. Since this was a long time ago there was no communication possible between them.

     Just like I would in my english class I thought about both sides to a problem and pretended to be neutral to determine if it was ethically right. I’ve practiced this in class before but have never practiced this outside of the classroom when I wasn’t told to which is why I was shocked that I was thinking so critically about artwork. I never really realized how powerful artwork could be to people and how each project has a million different interpretations. When I saw the picture of the ship I could see how the ethics could be right or wrong, but when my brother Steven saw the painting he could not think through my viewpoint and instead thought it was a picture about race.

A picture of me with a piece of artwork

     I am very glad that I chose to go to the Museum of Contemporary Art since it opened me up to a whole new field. If it wasn’t for this project I never would have gone to an art museum. I learned to appreciate art for what it is and take time to think about what the artist wants us to learn through their artwork instead of just looking at it for two seconds and then walking away. I strongly recommend taking the time out of your day to go to the Museum of Contemporary Art.