The college I am attending requires all undergraduate students to fulfill a diversity requirement. I support equality for all people. However, I do not agree with how the requirement is set up.
There are many courses which fall under this requirement. They include women's studies courses, black studies courses, and a course in deaf culture. Some campuses have men's studies classes. Ours does not.
It seems most students take classes on what they are. I.e., the women take women's studies classes, the African Americans take Black Studies classes, ect. That means white men are stuck as minorities in classes where they are the targets of resentment. They should not be punished for the "sins" of white males in the past.
My adviser steered me toward a women's studies class, probably because I am female and it fit into my schedule.
The class is run by a radical feminist professor. We were required to buy the textbook she "wrote" (CHA-CHING - instant book sales). Really, she just glued a bunch of feminist essays together and wrote intros to the chapters. I found several prejudicial statements against whites (especially "WASPs") in the essays.
The class discussions are negative and whiny. If I make a comment that the professor doesn't agree with, she changes the topic. She pulled me aside after class one day, and said, "Let the younger students speak." I am 35. Why does that matter?
I would be interested in some of the issues if they were not presented in such a one-sided and extreme manner. I think the two men in our section might have supported women's issues if the issues were more moderate. At this point, one of them is fed up and the other pretty much goes along with the reverse discrimination.
Prejudice of any kind really irks me! I have talked to other students, and they have had similar problems with the diversity requirement.
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That's kind of silly to have. At my college all we had was the religion/philosophy requirement. I'm sorry that your prof is a jerk. Right now I'm taking an African American literature class and it's pretty much a positive class. And my teacher is a goofy 40 year old white guy. I am one of five Black people in my class though. And I did take the class because I'm Black, but I think it's important to learn about my culture. I don't think the classes promote prejudice unless the professor is a bad teacher. I was kind of apprehensive about my class because I knew there were not going to be a lot of Black people because there aren't that many at my college, but it's turned out to be my favorite class.
“I hope the departure is joyful and I hope never to return.” - Frida Kahlo
I loved the Frida Khalo quote.! Yeah, I got a bad prof. But I have talked to other students and to my sister, who went to a different college. Many of them went through the same thing. I'm glad you like your class. I think it is good that you want to learn about your culture. I hope what you are learning is positive. I had an African-American room mate who was taking a Black History course. She picked a fight with me because she learned that white people did horrible things, and I'm white. But my next room mate was Jamaican, and we got along great. It really depends on the person, whether they choose to be negative.
I love Frida. Her movie with Salma Hayek cam on twice yesterday.
A fight almost sort of broke out in my class. We were being shown drawings of a lynching and one girl said it looks like a pinata. That really pissed the black kids (all 5 of us), and some of the White kids off. I know in my class when there are problems it's usually because someone doesn't think before he or she speaks. I never really got mad at a White person for what some of their ancestors did, it's not like we got to pick what color we would be born. It really does depend on the person. There are White students in my class who understand everything I mean when I bring up a topic, and Black students who are just dumbfounded, and vice versa.
“I hope the departure is joyful and I hope never to return.” - Frida Kahlo