MLK Day Reflection

 For the past 20 years, Andover has not taken MLK Day as a day-off.  Although there are no classes, there are workshops and events that we participate in instead.  On Monday, I attended an All School Meeting at the Chapel.  A speaker, who is a professor at Yale, came over to our campus to speak.  Her speech sparked many conversations later this week.   

In a dorm meeting last night, we talked about the messages she attempted to convey through her presentation, some of them including women’s rights, and how bravery is necessary to step out of our comfort zones.  I am not alone in feeling her talk was a little bit scattered; her ideas were very general and were difficult to link together.  However, these general ideas were powerful in the sense that they sparked later conversations.

In English class today, we dedicated an entire class to talk about the points made during ASM.  I think the one that stuck out to me the most, was entitlement.  Something Claudia mentioned during her speech was that many white people will dye their hair blonde, while blue eyes are desirable by some people as well.  It was something I’d seen, but never really stopped to ask why.  I finally stood and asked myself, why? I’ve seen it for sure.  Many actresses dye their hair lighter, and there are contact lenses that make ones eyes blue.  In English class we discussed how in history, “whiteness” has been associated with power.  I’ve mentioned how race has been a hard topic for me in the past, and in late 2017, I realized why through a theater script.  Claudia’s speech gave me more insight and opened new facets as to why. In English we discussed how power is associated with whiteness is something.  I thought “asianess” was not associated with power, and that there was its own string of stereotypes that I knew didn’t apply to me.  I learned about the case of Emmett Till.  We talked about how the white perpetrator is obscure, while the story is known by the name of the black victim.  Racism and prejudice is evident in our culture, but I’m realizing how blind I am to its relevance in our society. 

Coming to Andover, this must have been one of the biggest things I’ve learned about.  Racism, equality, our country’s history, and the different social expectations different people must live up to, are all becoming more known and relevant to my life.  I came to Andover with very little knowledge about this.  And I was oblivious to how little I knew.  But this community is structured in a way where it is safe, and necessary, to talk about these topics.  I’m also a little bit surprised, but in admiration, for how much some of my friends understand about these issues.  There is endless terminology that I didn’t even know existed!  Yet my friends know them and they are kind to explain it to me and to avoid assuming everyone is as educated in these matters as they are.  

This week has opened me up to some corners and nooks in our society.  Some questions about “whiteness”, entitlement, and inequality have rung true in my mind, as an Asian-American. I almost never think about most of these issues at hand, and now, having pulled them out of the box, I have a feeling they’re not going to return back into the shadows.