So I don’t mean to trivialize the discussion of racism that the seniors had in class today, but this quote from my favorite movie, “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” does a pretty good job of illustrating how I personally view race relations. At this point in the movie, Gus Portokalos is acknowledging that his daughter is not marrying a Greek man, which is the central conflict throughout the film. But by the end, Gus simply says, “we are all fruit,” which is his analogy for saying that we are all humans.
Regardless of our race, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, political views, etc., we are all humans and should be treated as such. When I see someone who is different from me in some way, I recognize that and understand that it is part of who they are. And though I see these differences, I would never treat someone differently based on the color of their skin or where their family is from. I think these differences are what make us human and what makes us unique. And, quite frankly, up until recently I thought most people felt the same way.
After seeing the disgusting reactions on social media to the die-in protests at Penn State, I realized that I had been living in something that I will call the “Essence of Joy Bubble” for three years. That bubble is made up of Essence of Joy choir, which is one of the choirs in the School of Music that I was a member of from the beginning of freshman year to the end of junior year (unfortunately because of time constraints I couldn’t be a member during my senior year). EOJ sings music from the African and African-American music literature, which means that we sing a lot of traditional spirituals and a lot of Gospel music. Most people assume that the majority of that choir is made up of African-Americans, but that’s not the case. The makeup of the choir is actually quite diverse, with people of every ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, etc.. And somehow, even though we all come from very different backgrounds, we all learn to understand and appreciate each other’s differences and work together as one cohesive unit.
I’ve realized that we’re not your typical choir. We can go from singing classical music in Latin to Gospel music that might remind you of the movie Sister Act. We have music majors, journalism majors, engineering majors and everything in between. We have Catholics, Jews, Atheists, Baptists, Orthodox people, and more. We are a melting pot of different races and ethnicities. And because of that, people don’t know how to categorize us. And, quite frankly, that’s a good thing. EOJ forces people to step outside of their comfort zone and understand that hatred does not need to exist. There is no need to judge someone based on the color of their skin or the way that the look.
I personally believe that people need to make more of a conscious effort to step outside of their comfort zone — this goes for everyone, not just one specific race or ethnicity. It’s human nature to stick with what you know, but there is no harm in putting yourself out there to try and understand another perspective. You’ll probably learn something along the way 🙂
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