Ideas for Ethics

This semester I’ve learned that people from all different backgrounds need to get the same opportunities, equally. Of course, I have always known this but through my volunteer work, I was able to see the biases first hand and the way these people handle their unjust biases. The people who attend Adult ESL are wise from their experiences of living in two different communities. We, as a society, should be learning and growing from what they have to say because unlike many of us, they have different perspectives on our way of living that many of us have become or grown so accustomed to that we are blind from noticing it. For example, something so easy as learning about daily life in America seems simple. When teaching these vocabulary words on daily life to the adults they understand but many of them asked why. Why hire someone to do this, and why not do it yourself? Many of us in the community are used to being able to have the money to just call someone to clean our house, or fix a window, etc. but forget that some things are easy tasks that we can do ourselves. We just are biased in society and don’t notice our privileges. The people I worked with are cultured with their own home country and this new one that they live in. They can decipher the good and bad when comparing and they have more experience than any of us. Yet, their words are still unspoken because so many people turn away from what they have to say. That’s why I thought it is important for us to learn about the 2020 census. It, of course, does not get their opinion out there, but it does show that they exist, and that’s a start. If we can have them, educate them, on how to make themselves known in the easiest way. By taking a survey just to show the government that they exist and they need help with their resources, it’s a start to getting those biases out of the way and letting their knowledge be shared. In my interview, it was hard because he couldn’t speak English and he didn’t know too much about the 2020 census, but I realized that he wanted to be interviewed because he wants to be counted. He wants the government to know that the community he lives in needs funds and resources and he’s willing to try for that.

One reading that really helped me better understand the cultural myths and narratives is from Life is no Disneyland. This talked about Yunuen’s journey here and how she struggled but was able to make a future for herself doing something that will make a change. “Starting a new life in the US is hard. Deciding to migrate may be the hardest decision any people ever have to make.” Yuenen explained. This shows just one insight on her experience, but it also shows what maybe some of those who attend Adult ESL may have had to go through as well.