Photo: the University of Texas at Austin
When you watch the news, do you see a person who looks like you? For me, a white male of 48 years of age, the answer is yes. But not just yes, overwhelmingly yes - in every occupation. For other nationalities, that is not the case. What impact does that have on a person trying to succeed in today's society?
Representation is critical to success. The days of the old ways are being replaced slowly with new ideas, new thoughts. In the video below, MSNBC news anchor Stephanie Ruhle interviews an elementary school teacher who has transcended her daughters' life by such an action:
That is a perfect example of representation where it matters most. The action of that mother has completely transformed the image of 'normal' in that child's mind. The action's influence is completely noticeable. Imagine if we were all that brave to take actions like this teacher has? What would the world look like?
I have been thinking a lot about this lately. With the onset of online learning taking a more critical role in society, what does representation mean? That is an open-ended question to which a blog post may be composed later to continue that conversation.
Just look at the demographic makeup of today's largest corporate boards. Do they reflect the diversity that we see at the state and local level? Is representation changing fast enough to keep up with a changing society? These are all questions that need to be entertained by each of us.
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