Social Justice Philosophy
The only way that someone can truly define “Social Justice”, is by actually seeing it happen before their very eyes and seeing the after effects of something positive done because of social justice. To me social justice is seeing people, like minorities, who normally don’t have a say about issues that impact their daily lives, come together as one and try to come up with solutions that can better change their lives. When the neighborhood of Little Village were denied a high school, parents of young students took it upon themselves to protest and fight so that their children may be given the best type of education that they deserve. After a long struggle, the parents succeeded in the fight for a new high school. Parents aren’t the only ones who make their voices heard. In my sophomore year of high school, I witnessed many outraged students participate on a sit out because they were upset about the changes that were made in their school. This is the kind of action that people take whenever they feel that they are being deprived of something that they need. Social Justice isn’t about fighting for one specific group, but for an entire race,culture, and class whose voice is rarely heard and who almost never see anything get done. Social Justice has taught me to see the world not only through my point of view, put through the eyes of everyone living in a world full of injustice.
Social Justice is not an easy thing to achieve. It takes time and dedication. It takes dedication from those who want to see change take place in their lives. We still face struggles today. We still live in a world where women are treated differently than men. We still live in a world where two people who love each other can’t be bonded for life because of their gender. We still live in a world where the lives of young black men are worth less than that of their “superiors”. The fact that people had to starve themselves just to get a school built in the United States in the 21st century is an insult to social justice. But in the end, the school was built, women are being given bigger roles in our society, gay marriage is being legalized in many states across the U.S. and the cries of those who have lost a loved one because of discrimination and racism do not go unheard of.
Social Justice cannot be achieved when people don’t make their voices heard. Anyone can see a problem and think to themselves “that’s not right” but it takes courage for someone to say “that’s not right” to the person that is responsible for that problem. That is what social justice is about. It’s about making sure that your voice is heard by the people who are making life difficult to those who already have so much to deal with. Whether is teachers protesting downtown or students protesting in the hallways of their own school, what matters is that they made their voices heard.
I hope to take what I learned about Social Justice in my four years of high school and apply it to the real world. I want to know that I was a part of something that actually made a difference for the better. I want to know that I was responsible for helping another human being.
The only way that someone can truly define “Social Justice”, is by actually seeing it happen before their very eyes and seeing the after effects of something positive done because of social justice. To me social justice is seeing people, like minorities, who normally don’t have a say about issues that impact their daily lives, come together as one and try to come up with solutions that can better change their lives. When the neighborhood of Little Village were denied a high school, parents of young students took it upon themselves to protest and fight so that their children may be given the best type of education that they deserve. After a long struggle, the parents succeeded in the fight for a new high school. Parents aren’t the only ones who make their voices heard. In my sophomore year of high school, I witnessed many outraged students participate on a sit out because they were upset about the changes that were made in their school. This is the kind of action that people take whenever they feel that they are being deprived of something that they need. Social Justice isn’t about fighting for one specific group, but for an entire race,culture, and class whose voice is rarely heard and who almost never see anything get done. Social Justice has taught me to see the world not only through my point of view, put through the eyes of everyone living in a world full of injustice.
Social Justice is not an easy thing to achieve. It takes time and dedication. It takes dedication from those who want to see change take place in their lives. We still face struggles today. We still live in a world where women are treated differently than men. We still live in a world where two people who love each other can’t be bonded for life because of their gender. We still live in a world where the lives of young black men are worth less than that of their “superiors”. The fact that people had to starve themselves just to get a school built in the United States in the 21st century is an insult to social justice. But in the end, the school was built, women are being given bigger roles in our society, gay marriage is being legalized in many states across the U.S. and the cries of those who have lost a loved one because of discrimination and racism do not go unheard of.
Social Justice cannot be achieved when people don’t make their voices heard. Anyone can see a problem and think to themselves “that’s not right” but it takes courage for someone to say “that’s not right” to the person that is responsible for that problem. That is what social justice is about. It’s about making sure that your voice is heard by the people who are making life difficult to those who already have so much to deal with. Whether is teachers protesting downtown or students protesting in the hallways of their own school, what matters is that they made their voices heard.
I hope to take what I learned about Social Justice in my four years of high school and apply it to the real world. I want to know that I was a part of something that actually made a difference for the better. I want to know that I was responsible for helping another human being.