Back to school for my last year! Already I am learning and experiencing again only one week into it. Terms are great in that they get right to the point. It feels more rigorous, as a school should be. I would quit my job if semesters were as rigorous as the terms. I totally would do it too. Great challenge.
Anyhow, as much as I have tried to not be racist and ignore the blatant racism and elitist mindsets around me, I was reminded once again of the ignorance and naivety of others. One student in my Spanish class from the east coast, a background of knowing communities of whites and blacks, often separated still, a sprinkle of Mexicans, and maybe an occasional Asian, came to Hawaii and had his eyes opened to the world of the Polynesians. While I know the islands are easy to overlook and many people are unaware of their existence still (at least besides Hawaii), his harsh bias in thinking with only life experience in the east and with his mission in Mexico proved his mouth a premature speaker. Our break time conversation outside of the classroom lead to stereotypes of cultures and how many cultures become offended when mistaken for another. It started with Indonesians and Malaysians. I thought to myself about how Spanish don't like being mistaken for Mexicans, and how Samoans and Tongans aren't just one mesh of brown. However, this albeit young man made it known his insensitivity in how much the past can matter, or patriotism mattered to anyone but him as a white American. No, he didn't say this, but its what I got. He didn't become offended, he said, when others thought his dialect of English wasn't as proper or intelligent and so other people should be offended when they are mistaken for another. While it would be ideal to forget about the past and build a peaceful future, your accusations of that way of thinking as being stupid and insignificant is what makes peace impossible. History accounts for beliefs of a society, and society accounts for beliefs of individuals. You MUST be sensitive to these subjects to understand people and to build meaningful relationships with them. He continued to criticize the Haka, and how Maori's are too sensitive. And told a "joke" of how when the English arrived in NZ, they must have thought the Haka was weird and stupid and just shot them... as he laughed at the picture in his mind. Ignorance is bliss, clearly. Still, he had not finished. He went on to criticize all Polynesians for adopting the Haka as "their thing" when it was only the Maori's. I was close to boiling over. Cultures are different, but adopting a dance or some other form of expression as a cross cultural symbol for all of polynesia is quite the same as music representing "Latinos" or even latinos unidos. Its the same idea. Anyways I don't want to dwell anymore after this rant on the stupidity of mankind.
There is a book I want to read eventually http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Brothers_Karamazov
The Brothers Karamozov. We had an excerpt of this read to us in class today because we have been talking about the concept of security. When conquerors came to other lands and offered protection, they also took away some of their freedom. This book talks about an "inquirer" who talks to Christ and lectures him about how when he brought more freedom to man, of choice, he made it infinitely more difficult for him because there was no security net of being told exactly what to do. Here I am in my dorms, new rules every year, said to be for my "security" however taking away some of my freedom at the same time. Yet the scriptures say that man should do much good by their own free will. I can't choose good anymore, I just must always do what is good. I can't even decide what is good, these people are telling me what is good for me. Self imposed parents? How am I to live in a world of choices after not being able to do anything. And people wonder why soldiers go crazy after they come back from deployment? It isn't just post traumatic stress from war. Think about having a tight schedule every day. You are told when you can pee and drink and relax your stance. Come home and suddenly you can do whatever. How do you know what to do? I came to an environment thinking I would be with people who choose to do good. Instead, I have placed myself in a well disguised moral prison. While I appreciate the security, I think I prefer freedom. At least I can appreciate that more when I leave.
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