Today in our seminar we talked about why diversity is important. On thing became painfully clear: Some people just don’t get it! Or maybe they don’t care. I was surprised at some of the people who actually participated, but there were lots of people who didn’t say a single thing and who you know were just upset that they even had to be there. One guy even made a comment about people claiming they’ve been discriminated against when they really haven’t been. I’d love for this straight white man from what seems to be an upper class family to tell me when was the last time someone followed him around a store, locked their doors as he walked by their car, clutched their purse as he get’s into the elevator, or been waved down by an old White woman who just assumes that you work in the store. Because as the very intimidating, not-quite-five-foot-two, black woman that I seem to be, I have these things happen to me all the time.
There were statistics shown about our profession, and the number of under represented groups. Right now our profession is about 77% female. So for once, and probably one of the only places you can find this, men are the minority. Racial/ethnic minorities don’t even represent 2% of this profession. A lot of my classmates seem to not even get that this is an issue! One girl brought up an interesting idea from a study she participated in, where people seem to feel more comfortable around people who are like them. that being said, maybe some people would feel more comfortable with vet who is male vs female, black vs white, etc. Maybe some little brown girl will see that there are Black vets out there and not feel like it’s an impossibility for her.
We did some interactive activities, including one where we talked about 5 things that make us who we are, a time when those things brought us pride and pain, etc. We also had so feel in a blank with a stereotype that doesn’t fit us. For instance, I am a Black woman, but I am not from a broken or troubled home, consider my family to be middle class, prefer my chicken grilled to fried, etc. the second activity was… interesting. We played “Who am I??” We identities on our backs and had to ask yes or no questions to figure out what we were. I think the one thing that happened at that point that really upset me is that someone told the “veiled woman” that she was related to the “terrorist.” Seriously?
I can say however that all in all I enjoyed it. I think that diversity in veterinary medicine is important, but also just diversity in general. I hope that someone is able to change their view on the subject, open their minds, and be a better person. But honestly, I don’t think much will change… I think that the main people who don’t think their is a problem are the one’s who are prejudiced and will stay that way. Especially the confederate flaggers.
No comments:
Post a Comment