This last week of rising voices meetings was bitter-sweet; I can't believe I was given such an excellent opportunity. From meeting new people to participating in extraordinary events, I can't wait to do more for this community! Speaking to Michigan State Senate, Stephanie Chang was amazing. I got to ask her what she did with a social work degree as I am pursuing one myself. 

​In one of our meetings, we discussed the education system lacking in the historical department, and it was a very insightful conversation. Something I wanted to touch on was something I spoke to Thang about. As an Asian American, I can confidently say the American education system teaches a biased history. They focus on the idea of the white savior complex, that colonization was somehow beneficial. Marginalized groups have fought for generations to regain the stolen culture, and the system teaches young impressionable minds that that is okay. I grew up in a predominantly white town dealing with microaggressions, even from my own teachers, being stared at when we talked about world war 2. This is NOT okay. The classroom is supposed to be a welcoming learning environment, not a competition or a place for teachers to push their ideas. To correctly learn about POC history, it must be taught by a POC, and although a white person may learn about our history, they will never be able to understand our history. For POC history to be taught by a person who came into this world with privilege will not have the empathy or passion compared to POC. "Racism is taught in our society... it is not automatic. It is learned behavior towards persons with dissimilar physical characteristics." - Alex Haley. The education system teaches children everything they know no matter if it is a fact or not, they will believe it to be. We need the education system to be less biased, less one-sided, only teaching what happened.