Intro to Social Justice By Elizabeth Menchu

Throughout the semester of this course, Introduction to Social Justice with The College of New Jersey, we have studied diversity, intersectionality, and how it impacts the world around us. We have read sections of The 1619 Project and Readings for Diversity and Social Justice, which have given us more examples and statistics regarding specific topics of Social Justice. Through this final project, I have interviewed family members and taken portraits to show how Social Justice is in our own world even if we think that we are living a “normal” life. Although not all of these people are living in the United States, they still face oppression from class, power, and education.

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Throughout the interview with Eugenia Abigail, she mentions the emotional and social life troubles that she goes through. People assume things of her, without knowing the true Eugenia Abigail, and it affects her personal life. But aside from that, she goes through social injustice that might seem like a normal thing for her. Although she lives in Guatemala, she still has a disadvantage like many teens in the United States, college admissions. In Guatemala, if you can pay for college, you go, if not, you can find the money or not go. Fortunately, Eugenia was able to get a scholarship through exams to be able to go to college and pursue her dreams. Eugenia also comes from the lower to middle class in Guatemala and, just like her education, there are ways that they are at a disadvantage because they don’t have the money because they are not of the “high class”. Just like the text Readings for Diversity and Social Justice says, “All Americans do not have an equal opportunity to succeed, and class mobility in the United States is lower than that of the rest of the industrialized world” (180 Mantsios, 2018). Just like in the United States, people in other countries don’t always have the opportunity for higher education and have to take advantage of their resources, just like Eugenia Abigail.

Along with interviewing Eugenia Abigail, I interviewed her older brother Omar. Omar also had to go through the same process for college and was also able to go to college. He recalls how he was during his teen years and thinks that if only he had worked himself a little more, starting college wouldn’t have been as hard. Now in his third year of college, he has worked hard to be where he is. Now he won’t take things for granted, like his study, job, and family. Recently, this family has been through a separation of parents, which is why the siblings both value family. Omar especially values and is inspired by his mother. He describes her as a person of faith and as someone who works for their dreams. Through this class, we have learned that having separated parents affects what your social status is like in communities, especially in religious families. Although this family has been oppressed by classism, both Eugenia and Omar continue to work for their education and disregard all negative comments that society has towards them.

The last person I interviewed was Sandra, my mother. I know that she came to the United States in order to find a new life and the opportunity to provide her future family with resources for a successful life. In her interview, Sandra said that it was her dream to come to the United States, and as an immigrant in the United States, she faced many challenges. Racism was a major topic in our course, especially with white supremacy and other races trying to assert their dominance in society. In Readings for Diversity and Social Justice, the article Racism says, “Racism is the set of institutional, cultural and interpersonal patterns and practices that creates advantages for people legally defined and socially constructed as ‘white,’ and the corollary disadvantages for people defined as belonging to racial groups [...] by the dominant powerstructure that shaped the rules and laws that were considered essential to the formation of the United States” (66 Funk, Varghese, Zúñiga, 2018). After 30 years in Guatemala, Sandra moved to the United States and has been living here for another 30 years. Her journey with living in the United States without being scared of what she does has been long. Although she no longer has to be worried, she can still see the difference between her home country and the United States. She is proud of herself for giving her children the future that she would have wanted, she is glad she can see her children grow up to be what they want.

Throughout the Intro to Social Justice Course, we have been able to deeply study and view the history of the world through textbooks, and with this project, through our own families. Privilege and oppression, based on race, sex, age, and other factors are real, and we need to accept that in order to start changing how society this privilege and oppression. This course and project have helped me view the world’s actions differently and have made me realize the change that it needs to give people the resources to succeed and not hold them back.

Bibliography
Mantsios, Gregory. Readings For Diversity And Social Justice; Class In America.
ROUTLEDGE, 2018, p. 180.
Funk, Mike. Varghese, Rani. Zúñiga, Ximena. Readings For Diversity And Social Justice; Racism.
ROUTLEDGE, 2018, p. 66.