Dr. Aguilar was a real inspiration especially because I feel like I can relate myself a lot to him. It makes me so happy that people that have such a hard time growing up become so successful as he did with determination. Just like me, he is a first generation college student, and seeing him so successful makes me feel a lot better about my future. Seeing all the troubles he has been through only makes me appreciate how blessed I am. I truly look up to him and i know that for sure he will be a role model when I think about my future and what I want to accomplish in life.

Oppressors= Dominant Race???

    After Wednesdays discussion and class and after reading both the textbook and Lum's chapter 3, I learned a lot about social justice but also realized a lot about myself. The discussion in class was a bit intense. Like Desiree, I was also scared to speak up afraid to say something wrong. However so many things were going through my head I knew I had to let it all out here on the blog. 

    First of all, I don't agree that the oppressors are always the dominant race. Any race can be oppressive towards the other. My high school was predominantly Hispanic and African American. Unfortunately, many people from both of these races were oppressive towards the other. I personally have never felt oppressed by a Caucasian person. As an American I have always felt like I have the same rights any other citizen has. But as I began to think about it, I was also thinking that maybe I have never felt like a lot of other Mexican Americans feel because of the color of my skin. I am very light and I have also been mistaken for a Caucasian girl. Even people who are Mexican often speak to me in English and when they hear me speak perfect Spanish, they get very surprised. I believe that for this reason I can't relate myself to a lot of Mexican Americans who feel oppressed by the dominant race. 

    Another thing that I found interesting was how our textbook mentioned how when many minority people are asked who they are, they immediately mention their race or their sex. When I think back at times I have been asked who I am, for example, in this class the second day of school when we were asked this, I did not mention my race or sex. I simply mentioned my strengths and weaknesses as a person, disregarding my race. With this i realized that it is how you view yourself and how you feel about who you are what matters the most. Maybe those who feel oppressed are those who feel the need to express their race and ethnicity to others. I also disagreed that the minorities focus on survival. I feel like survival is a very strong word in this case. I agree that there is still discrimination and oppression in this world but I do not agree that survival is the correct word. 

     Overall I learned a lot from both the readings and the discussion in class. I realized that even if some of us are the same race or ethnicity, we all have different views, different experiences. What is important is to realize the inequality some people face and address those issues. Like the book said, diversity and inequality are very different. It is easy to talk about the diversity in our school but not too easy to talk about inequality. And inequality is what needs to be addressed. 

Is Social Justice Unjust?

    Reading these articles completely changed my idea of social justice. I believed that social justice was for all, each individual. However, these articles demonstrated that how unjust we can be to our peers without realizing it. The article that caught my attention the most and which i believed that summarized the others was Pelton's article. It was the very last article I read but it was the one that made things a lot more clear for me.
     One of the examples he used that was very catching was how advocates of welfare reforms believed that denying welfare to needy women would benefit the economy since the mothers of poor children would be forced to look for a job. This demonstrate that they are willing to be unjust to an individual for the good of the others. The other example about how elderly are given tests in order to renew their liscense was also very interesting. I had never really stopped to think about these things and how unjust we can be at times. Why should the needy women have to suffer and struggle so that the economy can ameliorate? How long will their children have to starve for before their mother finds a job? And why should the elderly be the only ones being tested in order to renew their license? Are they the only ones who could have vision problems? Why can't we all go through those tests to make it fair?
   So many questions came to mind while reading these articles. I began to think about different things that the country does for its citizens and began to critically think about the fairness to each and every individual. There are many things that the state or the country does for its citizens as a whole or as a group  whoever we are all very different. Even in the same culture there are always some people who are completely opposite. So what happens to those who do not belong to the group?
     Stereotyping and grouping is one thing that can completely change how effectively we help others. It is often impossible to help individual clients when they are being put in a certain group or stereotyped a certain way. Pelton states that social work students should be taught in a way in which they will not discriminate when treating their clients. To me, social workers never discriminated their clients. But as you begin to think about it, it is very easy for one to discriminate another by quickly stereotyping and putting them in a certain group.
    These articles stress on social work educators to step forward and teach the students how to effectively treat their clients without discriminating. I used this article as a wake up call. After reading these four articles I believe that from now on I will be more aware of how and when I stereotype certain people and on focusing on people as individuals. When in need, individuals should be able to receive help without being put in a group. We should all be treated like the individuals we are.

First Post :)

First time blogging I am so excited!
I've never done anything like this so I am sure it will be an amazing experince :)