Power and Privilege
If you've got one, you've got the other...
Project Description
Our Power and Privilege project had us dissecting society, both now and in the past, through the lens of one who did or did not have privilege, then comparing the two lenses. As a class, we focused mainly on privileges revolving around the topics of race and socioeconomic status, as well as topics such as gender, sexuality, or religious privileges (to list a few). We looked throughout history to see how different people of different races or socioeconomic statuses were treated. Many times, we were shocked at what we saw and heard. I believe that my peers and I knew and understood some about how different people were treated differently, however I don't think we understood the severity or extent of it. This project was extremely eye opening for many of us. We were divided into different groups, each assigned a different topic regarding power and privileges to research, then present about it different ways. Our group was given the topic of Residential Segregation in our community of Southern California. This meant that we looked at what race or financial status of people lived in a certain area and were segregated from those different from them, not that those people chose to segregate themselves, but that was the only affordable option. It was a very interesting topic to research and gain a deeper understanding of.
My Role
We were divided into groups of four and each had a separate role. There was an artist who created a mixed-media art piece centered around our group's topic using symbolism. The programmer was working with a computer program called Python, using math concepts and codes to show different aspects of our group's topic and issue and also give possibilities of how to help solve the problem. The writer of the group wrote a TED Talk for the group on the topic given to the group- was the issue is, why it's important, what it affects and what affects it and lastly how to solve it. The orator then presenter the TED Talk. The writer and orator worked closely together to create the talk. I chose the role of the orator. I felt comfortable and confident in presenting a talk about our topic and in the style of a TED Talk. Below is the TED Talk my group member and I wrote, which I then presented.
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TED Talk Script | |
File Size: | 62 kb |
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Reflection
Overall, I gained a deeper understanding of the way our community is in fact quite segregated than we may realize. I saw how residential segregation is in fact a huge issue. As I write out in my TED Talk, so many things are affected by residential segregation such as education. Where a child goes to school is dependent on where they live. And why should one child have a better education and future simply because of where they live? This project helped me to see how much of a problem this topic is and what we can do about it. There's so many topics that we covered that can be viewed as boring or adult topics, but when we learned about them they were interesting and relevant to us. Before this project began, I did not care much at all about affordable housing or know what section 8 housing was, but now I have an in-depth knowledge and understanding of these topics and really understand what we can do to aid these issues in our community.