Where you came from is not where you are going.

My dad once told me that the education process would make me a well rounded person. This was not the answer I wanted when I struggled with motivation for 8th grade history. I knew it was not my area of interest, nor would I ever grow up to be a historian. So why did I need to learn such useless facts. Motivation waned again in 9th grade math class. I hate math and was never good at it. My dad is horrible at math, therefore I blame him. I chose journalism when I came to OU because it required one math class. I took math for critical thinkers first semester freshman year. I could not tell you one thing I learned in my class. Do I think that it contributed to making me a more well-rounded person, no. Sorry dad, as usual I am going to restate what I think you were trying to tell me. Education is a process in which you take what you need and leave what you don't. It is a path to self-discovery intertwined with life lessons unrelated to a classroom.

There are certain things that you learn about yourself along the way, certain milestones that add up to who you become. From my stripped leggings in kindergarten(thanks mom), to eating lunch in the principals office in 3rd grade for kicking a boy in the leg, I remember little about academics and mostly about life lessons. Don't wear leggings with horizontal stripes and don't kick people. As we get older, our lesson's become deeper, harder ones to learn. While I enjoyed thoroughly taking this class, it forced me to look at issues that are easier to ignore. 

I pride myself on being open, accepting, loving and a bit influential to those around me. I have sympathy for people who experience discrimination, including myself. Throughout the course, some video footage struck reality. Gran Torino in ways reminds me a bit of some of my family members. I heard many of the negative words used to describe blacks and hispanics growing up from the people around me. Do I make excuses for them? Blame it on age and a different generation? Most of the time, I stand up for what I believe in and I don't mind being the only voice I hear in the crowd.

When we don't agree with someone else's opinion, are we supposed to argue? I argue with certain members of my family all the time about certain topics we discussed in class. There are times when I have no idea how I ended up in my family and at times they agree with me. Im too liberal, too open, too tattooed, too pierced, drink to much and god forbid I went to OU and not Texas. I know my family loves me and they have taught me some wonderful values, but I see eye to eye with them on close to nothing. This is who I turned out to be and I guess the education process made me well-rounded in "that" way. And who is to say there is something wrong with it?

So the title of my blog is "where you came from is not where you are going." There are a lot of meanings I want to attach to this title that I have come up with after this class. Sort of like an off-brand New Year's Resolution list. First off, hate and discrimination are for the most part learned. It is the responsibility of this generation to teach the future generations love, compassion, equality and fairness. Our kids will all disagree with us on many things, but there must be common values. Second, its never too late to help breakdown racial, gender and orientation barriers. Whatever you are comfortable with, does not make it right. If after this class, you KNOW the "N" word is a negative power, and "that's so gay" IS in fact offensive, why would you still use it? Fighting discrimination is fighting a war. If these prejudice phrases and words act as guns in the war, can't we just put them down? Eventually people put will put them down too if you are not firing back. My last point on my soapbox is that where our society has come from, is not where is has to go. I do not think that we will see a backslide in our society. I am optimistic that we will continue to work away gender and racial lines. That our newsrooms WILL eventually become diverse and you will see that Native American story on a major nightly broadcast. That homosexuals will have legalized marriage. That our cartoons won't have any prejudice in them for bored adults to over analyze. That hatred and discrimination will become a NON-ISSUE. In my lifetime? Probably not, but at least I can be one more person aware of the problems in the media and our society and being an active voice for change. I think the most important point made in class was that people have to WANT to accept others. They have to UNDERSTAND why equality is important. Just because one issue doesn't affect you, it affects someone else. Just because your brother was not in the war, mine was. Just because your White family does not experience racism, my bi-racial five year old cousin already does in elementary school. These things are important to ME.

It is vital to realize that everything affects someone somewhere. And I agree with Randy, until we all give a shit, nothing will change.