Based on all of the events that have recently transpired, I definitely think that college students should be required to take a race and ethnicity class. I don’t think we should just stop at college students either. I think that a race and ethnicity class should be required all the way down to first grade because then children can’t learn the racism that their parents teach them at home. They will have two perspectives and will have the opportunity to choose between which kind of person they want to embody. But like I was saying, I think a race and ethnicity class should definitely be required because there are a lot of people in this world that just don’t understand why certain races are set up the way they are.
For example, we have people like Tomi Lahren, a conservative American television and online video host who has such a narrow view on what other races go through. She only has one view point and that is a view point of a privileged white woman who grew up with all of the advantages of being white. If you watch some of her clips from her online show, she is always trying to tear down anything that has to do with black empowerment and I feel like if she actually was forced to take a race and ethnicity class in college, she’d understand why black empowerment and protesting an unjust political system is a necessity. Literally all this woman does on her show is talk about how wrong people of color or any other minority group is wrong for standing up for what they believe in. You can watch one of her clips here.
I remember when she had recently bashed that football player, Colin Kaepernick, who took a knee during the national anthem. She had talked about how it was disrespectful for him to take a knee for the national anthem because America was a country that fought for his rights and the liberties that we have today.
The key word in her statement was “we.” “We” don’t have the same rights and liberties even though it is stated in the Constitution. Because she is a privileged white woman living in America, her rights and liberties will always put her ahead of minority groups because this country was built on white supremacy. It was built off of the idea that the white race will always stay in a position of power and the only way to do that is to constantly oppress the minority groups without people realizing it. Institutional racism and colorblind racism are the best examples for this point.
Once again, this goes back to the mandatory race and ethnicity classes for college students. By having all college students take a race and ethnicity class I think we can prevent future Tomi Lahrens from entering this world. We shouldn’t just continue to let people think with such a closed minded view of society because at the end of the day Tomi Lahren isn’t the only white person that thinks like this. There are millions of people in this world who have the exact mindset as this blonde white woman and it’s not morally or ethically right. These people learn these close minded views from their parents. The only way we can prevent these conservative views is to teach them intersectionality from a very young age and hope that they understand why minority groups feel the need to have their voices heard. We need to take off the blinders from our eyes and understand different perspectives.
When people don’t take the time to actually question why certain minority groups do certain things or why they feel the way they feel, that’s were the true problem starts to develop. If people can’t take a step back and question their privilege along with the institutional practices that play a role in this society, then they learn nothing and they continue to have this one sided mindset.
With race and ethnicity classes, students are forced to open their eyes and see why minority groups are the way they are. These groups are the way they are because they experience institutional racism, red lining when it comes to housing, police brutality, colorblind racism, the list goes on and on. When they can fully understand these kind of practices, the different races can work together towards an equal society. The only way to learn about these things is by taking a race and ethnicity class. Part of the problem in our society is that students aren’t taught from an intersectional perspective and can’t understand other races other than their own. If we make these classes required, then the problem can be fixed. In conclusion,I'm not bashing white people or anyone who has a conservative view point. I'm just trying to make a point that race & ethnicity classes could definitely help our society for the better.
