Marger chapter 2

On page 42 of Race and Ethnic Relations, Marger wrote, "In situations of interaction with dominant group members [ethnic minority group members] are often viewed as representatives of their 'race' or ethnic group. References made in conversation to 'your people' or questions of 'how do (black people, Jews, Chinese...) feel' about a particular issue assume that the minority person, simply by virtue of the fact that he is a minority person, speaks for an entire group. Such forms of address also imply that the minority person is an outsider, not fully part of the social mainstream." I see where Marger is going with this, and I certainly hope no one would ever use the phrase "your people" in an interracial discussion; however, I can't help but point out the fact that discussions between people of different heritages and ancestries are immensely important in developing an informed and conscious diverse society. I think too often subjects of race and ethnicity are seen as taboo, and uncomfortable feelings with discussion of these topics often build a wall between different groups. With that divide built, stereotype, assumption, and voluntary segregation can move in to thicken that boundary. Different groups must have conversation about their differing opinions and life experiences with certain subjects. Our class is the perfect example. We have students of different ancestries, ethnicities, religions, sexualities, and who come from different towns with different levels of diversity. Through our class discussions, we can begin to look at the world using a more informed frame of reference. Of course, as Marger said, our individual experiences and views on things can't be representations of an entire group's voice, but we shouldn't discount our relatively small group as too small to learn from. For example, the other day, we discussed the use of the word "nappy" when describing African-Americans' hair. If the room had been full of only White kids, maybe we would have never learned how the use of the word with its historical use and present connotations can affect members of the Black community. I think that discussion was a good example of how hearing different groups' explanation of how a word differently affects them. We must be willing to learn about each other in order to embrace our differences and build a society that truly celebrates diversity.