As a misanthrope, there’s a truth I’m beginning to accept, and that is that my day is made better by the kindness of strangers.
With the racist GroupMe messages targeted towards Black students, with the fear and mistrust that certain minorities groups have felt over the election and with the deepening of rhetorical divisions between political factions, it feels like the time to reform, rise and react has come upon us. The rallying cry demands healing.
When I first came to Penn, one of the first questions I was asked about my home country was: “Isn’t Vietnam a democracy?” At first, it seemed like a harmless question, but, after rethinking it, I saw the damaging knowledge gaps behind the query — the same lack of knowledge about the Vietnam War directly informs humanitarian disasters like Iraq.
This year, two of the least favorable candidates in American history are in line to be the next President.
Public space is always around, which is maybe why we forget its potential for discourse. With larger growth in online spaces, social networking sites specifically, physical public space no longer holds tangible influence over us. Yet following the wide-scale flyer incident, then the homophobic preachers and their counter-protesters, we are reminded of the presence of human voices expressing opinions in the public sphere.
GROUP THINK is the DP’s round table section, where we throw a question at the columnists and see what answers stick.
I’ve never doubted who I was. Asian, White, Mixed, Girl, Young—any of these could apply, but none of these mattered.
GROUP THINK is the DP’s round table section, where we throw a question at the columnists and see what answers stick.
The daily news updates of unlawful police shootings against black men and women has led to much hashtagged outrage: solidarity nowadays means expressing communal dissatisfaction.
College acceptance has always been tied to pride, whether it be personal or school- oriented. The acceptance email for Penn is delivered in an unshakably triumphant Quaker fight song, heralding the shedding of new skin, ushering in a community that will soon be yours.
Solutions by The State News
