Week Four Blog

Week Four Blog

                This week I am to lead the discussion for the chapter review in the text book, Soul of a Citizen. This chapter is entitled “Village Politics”. After reading the chapter, I thought that the book brought up several interesting points that I agreed with. One thing that really stuck out to me in the text was when the book began talking about how a sense of community is disappearing in society. For awhile now, I have been thinking that we live in a very individualistic society. It seems that everyone is really more concerned with themselves and what’s going on in their own lives more than helping others. I know for  me this was a huge issue at my undergraduate institution. I always felt as though everyone was more focused on themselves and what was going on in their small part of the world. What about the larger issues that affect all of us? One thing that always stuck out to me was how Black students always wanted to complain that the university didn’t do anything for them. They felt that they were not being represented or that their voices weren’t being heard. I have to agree with that to a certain point. Since we are a very small minority, every program is not going to be tailored with keeping Black students in mind. I can understand the frustration though where it feels like all the major artists, programs, events, plays, etc. aren’t really trying to reach out to a diverse audience. But the way I see it, if we, Black students, aren’t involved in trying to make changes to these programs then nothing is ever going to change. It seemed like Black students found their own little communities and stayed there. I feel like we only had friends or join groups that had people who looked like us, talked us, liked the same things we like, etc. What about the larger community as a whole? How about stepping outside your comfort zone and joining the student government or programming board? I know that joining these predominantly white orgs. Is somewhat intimidating, but if we don’t attempt to develop a sense of community with everyone, we will never be involved in bringing about change. I don’t know, but sometimes I feel as though technology is separating us more than bringing us together. It’s like, if I can go on facebook and find ten black people who are into the same things I’m into and hang with them, I have no reason to step outside of the environment I’ve always know and try something new even if I’m constantly surrounded by different groups of people. I can be in a class or group with people of all different ethnicities, but if I can text or tweet or facebook someone who looks exactly like me no matter how far away they are, I never really have to develop a relationship with the people I’m surrounded by. I think it’s important to attempt to begin developing the community that has deteriorated over time. Community is important to developing the individual as a whole!