The following post is an interview with Karen Tseng, fellow TA 45 member and amazing human. Karen is a social justice activist and a strong believer of equality and non-discrimination. Please read on if you would like to know about our relatively awkward yet insightful lunch interview.
Q: Let's jump right in. Which social justice issue are you most passionate about? Why?A: Okay well... there are a lot of issues that are important to me. Gender and racial discrimination, or discrimination against the LGBTQ community, or Aboriginal issues are some I think of right away. I think that some people, especially in Western society, don't know about these issues. And, the social justice issue I feel most passionate about is... gender based issues and feminism. Being a girl, I experience it first hand. I am passionate about many issues, but they might not be as personal or relatable to me. Younger people are open to issues in social justice but you see a lot of discrimination in social media. It's gotten better but not to a place where there is equality. We need to be more aware, and stop, to eliminate these issues. Other generations are not as open, but we can raise our children differently to be more open, and be more aware.
Q: What do you think is the biggest issue as to why these injustices exist?
A: Oh, that's a hard question. I think greed and power and people's ego are a huge reason these injustices exist. I think, like, the desire to be superior drives discrimination. For example, with issues between men and women, many men need to feel superior, they want to feel better about themselves and above others. Or even Hitler! He wanted to feel superior to all the other races. I think people just view everything through their own identity instead of looking at equality.
Q: Can you tell us about the social justice course (HSE 4M1) offered at Mary Ward?
A: So yeah, Mary Ward offers a course called Social Justice and Equability. I learn about gender issues in my own community, in world, and history. I also learn about major people, notable figures in history. In general, I've just learned a lot. I'm not really on to read the newspaper, or keep up with media and the new and all that, you know? But it's important to learn, even though its not a compulsory course. We need to have an awareness of the world, and know about the injustices in the world. If you won't be open minded at least be understanding towards others with different views.
Bring justice, but don't be a hypocrite, there's only so much you can do to inform someone else about these issues.
Q: What can I do to help?
A: I think the most important thing is educate yourself, do you own research, you know? What do you care about? At least be passionate about these issues, and just care. Things need to change. Look at media, newspaper, look at what's going on. What do we not know? Media does a good job at covering certain issues, but not everything. They get to decide what is shown to the world, you can only see what they give you. [Mark] Morra always said, ask yourself three questions when analyzing:
1. Who is behind the lens?
2. Why are they showing us this?
3. What aren't they showing?
Talk about it with others. Stop everyday injustices. Sexist or homophobic remarks shouldn't be tolerated, don't let it slide. Stuff like "oh, that's so gay." Because who are you not to tell them back off? Let them know.
Q: Additional comments?
A: Emma Watson said, "If not you, then who? If not now, then when?"
