Race And My Community: Sister City In Vancouver

1953 Words8 Pages
Race and My Community Kevin Robins ETH 125 September 19, 2010 Dr. Liz Baker Race and My Community Vancouver Washington is a city that is diverse in race and culture, and welcomes all who enter. I have lived here, in total, almost 12 years. The Columbia River divides the two states of Washington and Oregon and Vancouver is located on the North shore. I chose Vancouver not only because I don’t have to pay State taxes, but because of its rich history and cultural diversity. Vancouver also has a sister city in Joyo, Japan. Joyo has built an entire replica of Fort Vancouver. Both Vancouver and Joyo have cultural events from the respective cities. There have been Art exchanges, one-on-one exchanges and a 6 month worker exchange (City…show more content…
While waiting for my daughter outside, with everyone else, I will strike up conversations with a person or two. Most people will converse with me. However, most Hispanics turn away or will not acknowledge me. I am not sure why this is. My wife is President of the PTA at Anderson and she tells me that many of the Hispanics will not participate in helping their school community. They bring their kids to school, talk to no one, and will not participate in any of the volunteer opportunities in the PTA. They are always invited to participate but none ever show up to help. Interestingly, when it comes to their children turning in the homework assignment on time, 99% of Hispanic children turn in their homework on time while only 60% of white children turn in their homework on time and a few not at all. I know this first hand because I volunteer in my daughters’ classroom. This leads me to believe that the Hispanics at this school really want their children to succeed, but don’t want to have a part in giving back to the school by…show more content…
When I wait for my daughter to get out of school I would love to speak to a Hispanic person, just because they are a person, not because they are Hispanic. Racism can’t be put behind us unless both races talk to each other. Maybe the Hispanics in my neighborhood aren’t as educated so they don’t feel comfortable carrying on an intelligent conversation. Or, maybe they think that Hispanics and Whites shouldn’t mix. I have no idea what is going through their head, but I just want them to know that I am friendly. To fix this inequity, I would love to start some sort of community center. A place where there would be classes in English and Spanish, and a place for kids to play after school, and a place where kids could mingle with children of other races. Just like some kids around the world are taught at an early age to kill, and hate, and blow up innocent people, and to think those actions are ok. The same goes for the kids at this community center. These kids could grow up talking to kids of various races. Not just talking but playing and having fun together, and they will see it is ok to do

More about Race And My Community: Sister City In Vancouver

Open Document