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Thursday, October 1, 2009

Life in the Tired Lane

I do not want my field experience to be over quickly (I truly do enjoy it and wish I could much more time there) but I will not cry when this semester is over. I am running on FUMES, ppl! Mid-term is right around the corner. Oh joy!


My field supervisor wants me to create a Targeted Development Agreement for all the trainings I go to. It will be like a mini-contract between the 2 of us. It will state that to ensure transfer of learning from each training, I will apply them in practice. I will state a personal objective for attending each session, skill development commitments and we will both sign it. :)


I am saddened by a certain experience I had yesterday. A birth mom was in the hospital with her newborn and was thinking about adoption. Superviso and I went to the hospital, along with her mother (whom I will refer to as grandmother). BM is young and doesn't make much money. BF is away in college, and although he expressed interest in keeping the child, he does not have any means to raise a child either. I was not welcome into the hospital room, so I remained outside and observed the grandmother and grandchild in the neo-natal room. (Grandmother is in love, no doubt!) The child is biracial and therefore, the grandfather will not welcome the child into his home. (OPINION: If I was that grandmother, I'd tell that man to hit the friggin' road, Jack!)


This struck a deep chord with me. My family has dealt with serious racial B.S. 15 years ago, my family ripped itself apart because my then-17 year old cousin got pregnant by an African-American. It is NO surprise that my mother's father was a racist SOB, and it did trickle down to some of his children. My uncle went off the deep end over the news and it caused a serious rift in my family. We have not been the same since.


Now, my cousin has since had 3 more bi-racial children - all of whom are absolutely gorgeous. I am not close with them, as I was not close with my cousin. This does sadden me, as I think of them often, but I am not surprised that is the way things are. There are no hard feelings between us and I am very proud of the shit she has overcome. She must have skin made of steel.


On to my point of the story: I am not judging this grandfather for his reasoning, but I don't have to like it. I personally can't understand how you could shun a child, a new life who had no control over their conception. It really is difficult for me to fathom. Of course, a lot of ppl do not agree with the mixing of "ethnic groups" but honestly, I don't see why it should matter. We are all human. And frankly, multi-racial/ethnic people are BEAUTIFUL!


This is my opinion. And, as I stated, I am not judging anyone for their views.


More work to do. Ciao!

2 comments:

  1. I don't see a problem with mixing ethnic groups, but my dad doesn't share the same views. And even my mom and sister who have no problem with other ethnic groups would rather I never dated someone, say, who was black. And this is from personal experience. There is so much negative stigma attached to a white woman dating a black man (and vice versa), which I'm well aware, but it never mattered to me. I have no doubt that our tolerance has to do with our age. Our generation, as a whole, is much more willing to accept those who are "different." Of course, there are always exceptions (IE: people with physical handicaps, deformities, and mental/developmental disorders experience ill treatment, in my opinion, much the same).

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  2. I definitely agree that our generation has a ton to do with it. Growing up around some of my family members makes me wonder how I turned out the way I did! I have to hand all of that credit to my mom. She always told me to respect people. Period.

    Yes, those populations of people are still treated differently, as are the minority groups. As sad and depressing and COMPLETELY ridiculous as it is, I don't think ti will ever change...completely.

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