Forgetting America
To be honest, I have forgotten what it is like to live in the U.S.
I know this in part by what I experience when I return -- the strange interactions I feel between myself and other people.
I also know it when I realize I have no passion for racial issues. Earlier this year I was invited to join a panel to look at creating a course customized for minorities in the U.S., and found myself curiously uninterested.
When I read the following article from the New York Times, I knew that a lot had changed, because I could not relate to the issues after 2+ years of living in Jamaica.
The article, entitled "In Student's Eyes, Look-Alike Lawyers Don't Make the Grade" describes how students are rating law firms on the diversity of their lawyers. It makes for interesting reading, on many level, and I recommend it highly.
However, I no longer felt emotionally tied to the problem it describes, and this is a feeling I welcome. Not to say that everyone should have the same reaction, but just to report that my own response surprised me just a little.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/29/us/29bar.html?em&ex=1193803200&en=67388bf4d2937143&ei=5087%0A
posted by fwade @ 10/30/2007
2 Comments:
Francis,
I attended college in the US as an F1 student, spent 12 years in Jamaica working in my chosen field, and now I've been back in the US as a permanent resident. I can tell you that I'm disconnected from issues of race. Not that I don't recognize it, but I don't go out of my way to seek it. Some have no idea how blessed we were in Jamaica (at least when I was growing up), not having to make assumptions about people or situations based on colour or race.
Hi
Having visited numerous cities in the US and living in Canada for many years, I have found that there is a difference in the interpretation of "racial prejudice" between both countries.
In the US they use the term "melting pot" as opposed to Canada, where it is called a "mosaic".
In my opinion, the US puts "racial prejudice" in your face (it is always obvious), while in Canada, it is systemic and they "pretend" that it is not an issue.
Having said that, which is more demoralizing, "racial prejudice" or "class prejudice"?
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