Inclusion
WARNING: This post goes deep...
Inclusion has been on my brain as of late. I'm attributing it mainly to the fact that I've been mulling over how to develop a two-hour workshop for 100 students around the very topic that I am presenting on Monday. Then again, I've also found myself reading quite a few blogs and articles recently on various social identities (gender, ability, and sexual orientation) that have been incredibly thought provoking and have stirred up some gut emotional reactions.
And to put it bluntly, I'm so over hate that my resolution for 2012 is to begin checking myself, my friends, and my family when we make ignorant or hateful comments that are targeted at various social identities. Because it's beyond tolerable at this point. And in the last three years, I have found myself making comments at times that are inappropriate and also allowing comments that I hear to slide without addressing them. But I'm over it. I'm done with it.
I hear the word "gay" used SO OFTEN as synonymous for "dumb" or "stupid" and when I attempt to educate, the reply is often, "oh. I didn't really mean that." But to me, it does not matter what you meant. Say what you mean and mean what you say. Because when I hear you say that something is "gay" or call someone a "fag" or "homo," I think you don't really get it. The root is hate.
When I hear those words, I don't think of how silly something is, how stupid something seems, how frustrated you are with that person or thing. When I hear those words, I think of...
...the middle school version of me who was picked on by the more athletic and "masculine" guys in school. the young man who heard it used a hundred thousand times in a derogatory way that when that young man discovered his sexual orientation, he didn't celebrate or rejoice, he wept.
...the sons and daughters who have been disowned by their families for being who they are.
...those whose lives have been lost either because the fear was too great to bear or the hate was too powerful to stop.
And I could go on and on and on. In all likelihood, hell the reality even, is that when I finish my workshop next week with the students, there will be a handful who think I am making a big deal out of nothing, who were bored, or who don't see that the responsibility falls on us. All of us. But my hope is that at least one student will leave the workshop and think differently and create positive change.
And if I can reach one person, it'll be all worth it. "Be the change." It may be a saturated favorite quote for half my 1000+ friends on Facebook but it rings true. Be the change. Start today.
Cheers.
Inclusion has been on my brain as of late. I'm attributing it mainly to the fact that I've been mulling over how to develop a two-hour workshop for 100 students around the very topic that I am presenting on Monday. Then again, I've also found myself reading quite a few blogs and articles recently on various social identities (gender, ability, and sexual orientation) that have been incredibly thought provoking and have stirred up some gut emotional reactions.
And to put it bluntly, I'm so over hate that my resolution for 2012 is to begin checking myself, my friends, and my family when we make ignorant or hateful comments that are targeted at various social identities. Because it's beyond tolerable at this point. And in the last three years, I have found myself making comments at times that are inappropriate and also allowing comments that I hear to slide without addressing them. But I'm over it. I'm done with it.
I hear the word "gay" used SO OFTEN as synonymous for "dumb" or "stupid" and when I attempt to educate, the reply is often, "oh. I didn't really mean that." But to me, it does not matter what you meant. Say what you mean and mean what you say. Because when I hear you say that something is "gay" or call someone a "fag" or "homo," I think you don't really get it. The root is hate.
When I hear those words, I don't think of how silly something is, how stupid something seems, how frustrated you are with that person or thing. When I hear those words, I think of...
...the middle school version of me who was picked on by the more athletic and "masculine" guys in school. the young man who heard it used a hundred thousand times in a derogatory way that when that young man discovered his sexual orientation, he didn't celebrate or rejoice, he wept.
...the sons and daughters who have been disowned by their families for being who they are.
...those whose lives have been lost either because the fear was too great to bear or the hate was too powerful to stop.
And I could go on and on and on. In all likelihood, hell the reality even, is that when I finish my workshop next week with the students, there will be a handful who think I am making a big deal out of nothing, who were bored, or who don't see that the responsibility falls on us. All of us. But my hope is that at least one student will leave the workshop and think differently and create positive change.
And if I can reach one person, it'll be all worth it. "Be the change." It may be a saturated favorite quote for half my 1000+ friends on Facebook but it rings true. Be the change. Start today.
Cheers.
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