What I've Learned From This Class (Notes from 3/15, Updated 3/27 & 4/5)

While this class has been a constant learning and growing experience for me as a student, it’s difficult to pin down how precisely I’ve changed since taking it. I’ve become more aware of the pervasiveness in this country of racism, discrimination, and hate, certainly. But I’ve also become more cognizant of the beauty of the human spirit, and to a degree the interconnectedness of us all as humans. It’s a strange dichotomy, and I’m still struggling with how to bring together the two views. Really, though, one could view that as the human condition—extreme acts of violence and hate corresponded with brief moments of beauty, light, and art. To a certain extent, we have to remember that the White oppressors were oppressed themselves a long time ago—the culture we have now is more the sort of thing the Romans forced on the visigoths than anything approaching our shared past.

(I use the phrase we to refer to White people. This is a mistake, in all honesty—we, as a uniting word, should signify the whole human race rather than any individual subgroup in that. But there’s etymology for you.)

But I’m digressing. What did I learn from the class? Rather, what am I learning from this class? Like before, lots of things. I’ve had a cascade of realizations about myself, for one. This course has been one of self-discovery to an almost alarming degree—through investigating a form of literature and, sadly, culture that’s foreign to my previous experience, I’ve come to terms with my worldview and belief system like I’ve never before. Sherman Alexie said once in an interview with The Atlantic that “literature is all about the search for identity, regardless of the ethnicity,” and as we’ve delved further and further into the literature of the American Indians, I find myself understanding more and more of what he’s saying.

Despite being a white, second-generation immigrant from a staunchly middle-class background, I’ve discovered my similarities with the authors we’ve discussed. I’ve found out secret biases I didn’t know I held, spiderwebbing out from a center of white privilege and complacency. And through these things I’ve realized about myself, I’ve also found out who I am. Alexie was right. I’ve been searching for my identity all along.

(As a further aside, the Alexie interview I referenced earlier is phenomenal, and well worth a read. Here's a link to it: http://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/unbound/interviews/ba2000-06-01.htm )