Ramim Tarafdar, Period 8, 3/8/21, Day A

 What are your thoughts and feelings about issues of inequity, oppression, and/or power?

2020 and 2021 have been two extremely tumultuous years, so say the very least. With constant issues being brought into the light for every aspect of inequality, oppression, and power, I'm sure everyone has begun to find themselves thrust into these conversations. It's unavoidable and in fact, absolutely necessary to speak on these issues now, as we begin to enter adulthood and our veil of childhood innocence about the world begins to lift. Among all of the issues that we see in the media currently, one that truly irks me is the blending of human rights and politics. Morality is a concept that we, as kids hold dear to us unknowingly. We are constantly sorting actions and ideas into the umbrella terms of good and bad until we realize that the world only exists in a dull grey, known as politics. Human rights are used as bargaining chips and played with for the shift of power of those that are above us. A perfect example would be how the entire BLM movement was turned into essential a marketing campaign for companies who never aligned with any of these beliefs prior. The topic that I really want to discuss is what has been happening in Texas lately. In the event of the Texan winter storms, it shocked me to see how cruel people can be against people whose beliefs differed from their own. A state's political alignment should never serve as justification for the suffering for millions of innocent lives, yet people were quick to run to Twitter to shun Texans for their desperate attempts at survival. Apparently, in their eyes, Texans deserved to suffer for being red. Even as Ted Cruz abandoned his state for a trip to Cancun, rather than berating the corrupt politician, I saw tweets of people criticizing the state for electing him and thus forced to suffer the consequences. I feel like at this point in time, so many people are more worried about fending for themselves to the point where they simply don't feel any empathy for others. Continuing this mentality is only going to be more detrimental when trying to create any real change. I firmly believe that unless we can come to mutual understanding of each other's pains and sufferings, there is absolutely no way to start to fix any of these issues.

How do you reflect critically on your own beliefs, assumptions, values, and experiences, and how these can influence your perception of self and others?

I reflect on all of my actions on a day to day basis. Honestly speaking, growing up I have been more close minded to many things in terms of inequality and oppression. Living in an immigrant household, racism is commonplace and challenging the views and beliefs of elders as a child is only ridiculed. However, as I experienced new ideas and engaged with people of varying beliefs, I took it upon myself to understand their point of view without any prejudice, even if I disagreed. This is a skill I utilize in every aspect of my life as I  believe that mindless arguments without first hearing out the opposing side solves nothing. I take this personal advice into my relationships, work, and any interaction I have. Although there are obviously exceptions to this, I always find the need to find common ground between myself and the opposition or at least come to a mutual understanding of each other's thoughts so that we're able to proceed in a positive direction.