/class

This class, more than anything else, has helped me learn how to argue about race in an academic situation.  I have long battled my family's super-Southern opinions on race but have never come out successful against their ingrained ignorance.  Now, knowing that race is totally constructed by society, I am equipped with an arsenal of comebacks. I have learned to use whatever white privilege I may have to make a point about race. I entered this class ignorant of just how many Band-Aids are intended for my flesh color, but now know that it is unacceptable.  I now understand that citing white privilege is the best argument I have against the foundation of racism.

The constant fear that oppressors hold of losing their power is ungrounded when learning about the similarities, not differences, between people of opposite races. As my favorite author Jonathan Safran Foer puts it,  "Humans are the only animal that blushes, laughs, has religion, wages war, and kisses with lips. So in a way, the more you kiss with lips, the more human you are." All in all, I think we should focus on becoming more human and embracing these similarities rather than segregating ourselves by race. I think being at Rhodes allows us a privilege, regardless of race, to use our education to win arguments about these things. The best way to change something is to refuse to be silenced about the topic, while at the same time, ignoring it only allows it to grow.