Evaluation of Diversity, Privilege, and Stereotypes in The Community

Diversity is easiest to think of as differences. We live in a diverse world made up of many different people and organisms. Although we do have these differences, we are more alike collectively. What I mean by this, is even if someone is black, white, or brown, Muslim, or Jew, we are still at the end of the day, still a human being. In our world today, many fights and disagreements are due to such differences, however, if we were more understanding, much peace could conclude. Catholic Social Teachings give us much guidance as to how we should treat each other, one of the main points is to value human life. That does not mean just the people in our groups, but those outside of them as well.

Privilege is a word to describe special treatment. Many of us hear of white privilege on the media and even news sometimes. What this means is that people who are white have special luxuries in this world. However, after speaking with some American friends, this is false. Many times, we hear that black people are discriminated against by the privileged white race. Although, I do see these discrimination, I do not think that all white people have special privilege. I feel that in some ways I am privileged. In my country, my family has nice house and things, although there are some poor. So, for this reason, I feel privileged. Also, since I am granted the right to study in another country, because many people apply for this scholarship but not all are chosen.

Bias and stereotypes are basically the same thing. It is when a group of people are classified for the common perceptions of them. For instance, in the U.S., there is bad stereotype or classification for Muslims. This is because of all the conflicts of 9/11 and ISIS. Although, these representations are false, people still do not like us. At airport, I sometimes get interrogated, and I believe this is because I am Muslim.

I was impacted the most from learning about the Holocaust and Slavery, along with biases. These three have impacted me a lot. I feel bad that groups receive such negativity. People need to realize that in every race, gender, and culture there are some good people and some bad people. This class has taught me to never judge a person before getting to know them. This lesson is extremely important to me, and I wish others thought the same.

As a college student, and even in my future, I will handle discrimination and diversity in the same manner. I will never judge another person, and I will also defend those who are stereotypes and discriminated against. I have realized that by not standing up, I am just as bad as the bully. If someone tries to hurt me, I will simply ignore them or ask them nicely to stop. I realize that just because they are hurtful doesn’t mean that I have to seek revenge.