HD 361 Social and Political Contexts of Human Development

Social and Political Contexts of Human Development was one of the most eye opening
courses I have ever taken. Although I was not naive to what the real world consisted of and the
types of beliefs people held, I learned so much. From the first day I was introduced to a term that
stumped me. The simple question of what is manifest destiny? This question brought so much
curiosity and left me eager to know more. I was then introduced to actual facts about how people
took land that was not theirs because they believed it was their God given right. We then made
many connections to how Native Americans were treated and compared it to other cultures and
races. We were able to reflect on how our own personal culture was similar and different than
other cultures. Personally, I was able to find connection as a Mexican American and as a woman
to some of major incidents and events we discussed in class. I was able to compare how Native
American cultures held similar beliefs to those of Mexican descent and culture. In the beginning
I felt lost, I felt like I had not received accurate information about important historical events but
in the end we were able to tie everything together. My goal was to learn information about our
countrys history and become a more informed individual who would eventually be able to see
things through a different lens.
This course gave me the foundational knowledge on racism, gender biases and the idea of
entitlement, and how people choose to be active and not allow the mistreatments of others. Early
into the coursework I learned about racism through the Brown vs. Board of Education decision in
1952. This court case was a civil rights issue. This case was interesting because it ultimately lead
to the decision that separate but equal was unconstitutional. This learning was supported through
reading about the Jim Crow laws which were a group of laws that kept everything separate but
equal.

One of the most moving videos I watched in this class was Freedom Riders. This movie
was based on a group of people who had been organizing for a long time to travel across the
south and challenge the Jim Crow laws. They had planned to hit some of the most racist areas to
protest the laws. Although the riders knew they were going to face some racism they could not
have guessed how they would actually be treated. What I found the most interesting was the
interviewers and their responses to the events that were happening. One interviewee was
remembering the events and said we were blind to the reality of racism, we are afraid of
change. I found it interesting how people find justification to their racism.
I always assumed every culture or race has had some sort of racism or been viewed as a
second class citizen for many reasons, but when I had to give a lesson to the class I chose The
Leon Grove Incident. I learned so much from doing my research on this pertaining to
desegregation. This incident occurred because a small town in San Diego decided they no longer
wanted any Mexican American children to attend the local school. They then created a small
school in the barn of the school that was meant to house the Mexican American children. I had to
learn everything possible so that I could be prepared for my presentation. I dove into all the
information I could find. One thing that resonated with me when doing my research was that the
students resisted this separation and the families gave them the support they asked for. The
students parents did all they could to reach news outlets and get some high end lawyers to help
them fight the fight. The community thought they would be able to push them out of sight
without a fight but they were wrong. This resistance to injustice is very much like our current
day activism, Mexican Americans and other groups continue to get their word out against unjust
societal norms.

Throughout this course I learned so much. I was able to take away pieces of each
presentation my classmates gave. Being that we were all responsible for teaching our peers about
a piece of social history, we were able to have a greater understanding of the history of our
country. I learned about the Indian boarding schools and how the new settlers tried to strip the
Native Americans for their culture and make them more like them. Upon reflecting on this era, I
had to compare and contrast the Native American experience to my own cultures experience.
Initially I thought we had nothing in common, but then I realized we had a lot in common. One
of the commonalities is the dominant culture trying to get my culture to assimilate into their
culture. This course made me newly aware of the patterns of injustice and mistreatment
occurring throughout American history.