Mariah Viktoria Candelaria
ASA2, Section A01 (Vrindavani)
Week 5
W.P.’s “The Cost of Speaking” was a moving piece that offered an enlightening perspective on the consequences of using your voice in situations of injustice. But as Professor Vrindavani’s mention of her friend’s racist encounter the other day, sometimes in moments of extreme shock, you just freeze up. I would love to say that I can and will throw hands on anyone that wants to disrespect me but who’s to say I will actually find the emotions fast enough to respond. As well-educated or articulate one may be, it’s hard to expect what your reaction may be to an instance of blatant discrimination against you.
“You don’t get to win a battle and take a nap,” said Professor Vrindavani during Thursday’s lecture, “You have to keep fighting against the dominant behavior.” This is something that has been on my mind throughout the week. It’s so easy to be burnt out by the daily trivialities that we go through, whether it’s school, work, family or other personal affairs. This is a system meant to debilitate you in order to force you to continue working on the treadmill of passivity. It is meant to wear you down so you don’t have time to be creative, free-thinking autonomous beings.
What I mean by this is taking a look at what these things actually do for us and discerning whether or not they truly serve a purpose that fulfills our personal desires and benefits. Education is an arguably important fundamental building block to mold children into the model citizen by the time they reach a certain age. But as we have discussed in class, the education system as it is right now tailors specific ethnic and socioeconomic groups to fail or become part of blue collar trades rather than nurturing them to become and achieve their dreams.
(Left: Montessori elementary school classroom/
Right: Public elementary school classroom)
Looking at the images above, you can see the clear difference in educational values and tools. While the Montessori school on the left demonstrates an open, bright environment that is tailored for a small group of children and surrounded by a multitude of different learning materials, the public school on the right demonstrates the traditional classroom style, with many students packed inside of a classroom and given a cohesive lesson. Even then, the public school on the right is a good example of what it might look for a higher class status neighborhood’s elementary school and isn’t exemplary of what most schools look like.
It is sad that from a young age, we are forced to learn how to sit quietly and become law/rule-abiding citizens rather than fostering our creativity. Only now are we aware of the detrimental effects of these socialization practices and must learn how to actively, effortfully demantle these ideals.
References
Unknown. (n.d.). About - Princeton Public Schools. Retrieved from https://www.princetonk12.org/littlebrook-elementary-home/our-school/school-profile
Unknown. (2018). “The Montessori Classroom: Inspired Design.” Montessori Academy. Retrieved from montessoriacademy.com.au/montessori-classroom-design/.
W.P. (2013). Fight the Tower: Asian American Women Scholars' Resistance and Renewal in the Academy: "The Cost of Speaking." Rutgers University Press.
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