Nicole "Crunching Hard on Cheerios"

As I have been in Cape Town for a month now, I feel like the amount of knowledge I am gaining is amazing. I have, however, realized the lack of knowledge I had before my adventure. I would like to share with everyone a blog I wrote a few days ago in the moment of my frustration. It shows exactly how I was feeling right at the moment and therefore think it is important to share my direct response.I entitled it, "Crunching Hard on Cheerios." 

I want to go for a long run outside right now to get rid of the anxiety I am feeling but it is not safe to be alone at night here. So instead, I am eating cheerio after cheerio taking out my frustration on the poor defenseless grains that I am biting. I watched a video in class today that is a part of a three part series called Race: The Power of an Illusion. This particular movie in the series is called The House We Live In. It explains why people live in the areas that we do in the U.S.  and why certain areas are worth more than others. I am not about to teach a history lesson, because that isn’t what my blogs are about. I believe though it is only necessary to give a little background before I begin to rant and rave. 

In all of our history classes we were taught about the GI Bill and how it was beneficial after WWII. However, there were certain aspects that I was never taught. It provided an easier way for people to get housing by only requiring people to pay small down payments over a longer time span instead of requiring fifty percent of the cost of the house up front. What I never learned was that this was not something that reached everyone. Most black people were not allowed to buy houses in the same area as white people and were instead confined to small apartments that also meant they were considered as having less wealth. Integrated neighborhoods were considered lower in value. When it came down to it, the property value of the majority of white homes was much higher than the majority of black homes, and white people could get more money for a house just because of where it was located. And, when one lives in a more “valuable” community, they receive the benefits of the better education and safety and all that comes with it. What I am getting at is that I never learned this before. I was never taught about the distribution of housing and how it affected people’s lives. I learned almost the same history lesson every year, reinforcing how we are a country that wanted everyone to be equal and our achievements. But, what about the flaws? What about the people who are still dealing with the repercussions of this? Why did I have to fly all the way to South Africa and take a class on race to know problems like this exist? 

I’m not blaming my history teachers, they all taught me valuable information. However, our curriculums seem to focus on one perspective and I realize this is not enough for me anymore. Even facts in history can be such different things when looking at it from different angles. When I was in class today, I realize that I learned about our battle with racism in a few specific time periods like the Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement. However, it was only lightly touched upon that our own troops fighting in World War II were segregated while fighting people who were trying to separate people based on the way that they looked and where they came from. I want my general requirement classes in college to be about race and the issues so many people face rather than a class I am forced to take that does not apply to my life whatsoever. I am frustrated with myself for being ignorant but more frustrated with the fact that there is so much out there I have not learned that I feel like I should. The simple fact that I know people have such different privileges makes it that much easier to want to do something about it. I know I can’t change the world and I know I can’t fix everything. But an understanding of the world around us brings us that much closer to seeing its faults and wanting to change them.

        

    I do also want to make it clear how I always think about my life in my own country. Sometimes I feel as though I am forming my own bubble here in Cape Town, and saying all these things in a place that is so far removed from my old world that I act like things that used to matter to me do not anymore. I think that every human life is valuable and important. I recognize that although someone is living on the streets in Africa, someone is living on the streets in America. I also realize that someone may have a home and still be facing challenges that are extremely difficult for them. I never want to make someone feel as though their problems don’t matter because I have suddenly become aware of new problems that exist. My only hope is that my perspective as well as other people’s can be broadened in order to get a richer sense of the world around us and what can be done to make it better for all people.