H****y
发帖数: 2992 | 1 【 以下文字转载自 Faculty 讨论区 】
发信人: Highly (高妹), 信区: Faculty
标 题: 考题专访（外篇）：采访大学行政人员
发信站: BBS 未名空间站 (Mon Aug 8 11:47:15 2016, 美东)
Interview with Mr. T'Challa Shabach
By Fiona Rawsontile, Aug 2016
Since I met Mr. Shabach, my opinions toward Black Americans have changed a
lot. He is always thinking. He actively learns new things, follows the news,
and discusses with others what he envisions as the better ways to solve the
problems around us.
Fiona: Mr. Shabach, I just found out that you had spent several years
mentoring youth when you attended college in Washington DC. Could you tell
us more about the experience?
Mr. Shabach: I felt like I very much became the man I am because of my
experience in D.C. I know one day I will be back there. Yes I mentored for
others and for myself. I tried to give people a little more knowledge or at
least a different perspective than what they had before. I never judge
people. I just try to understand and show it back to them a different way.
Fiona: That’s a nice teaching philosophy. I heard you recently took two
college courses in communications. Why are you interested in those topics?
Mr. Shabach: I took “Ethics” and “Human Communication and Culture”
towards a degree in communications. My dream is to be a film director and
writer, among other things. For me this is a safe choice. I can still pursue
my dream while acquiring a legitimate skill. I tutored in English mostly I
could edit. I did a lot of ghost writing for people. I wrote college essays
for people all the time. At one point I was writing a Master’s level paper
for someone on a subject I still don't understand, but I learned to turn
technical jargon into simplified English, etc.
Fiona: Is there someone in your family who has left a particular influence
on you in terms of pursuing higher education? Do you consider yourself
special?
Mr. Shabach: My mother. I favored her over my father. My mother has a Master
’s degree in Public Health. She served in the United States Air Force and
retired as a Colonel. She always stressed the importance of education. I
believe I am special in that I was born with a gift for expression and I
have a vivid imagination. But we are all special in some way; it is a
matter of how and when we use it.
Fiona: As a higher educator myself, I’d like to know what you think of the
American academic system. What’s the one thing you think the US academia is
really good about?
Mr. Shabach: The United States school system serves as a class divider by
determining what you will do in life. Based on the surrounding land values,
schools may have the latest technology or no computer room. Some children go
to school without being fed. The public education system does not create
functional citizens. It should provide lunch just like it provides the desk.
To chain the ability of learning to the ability of eating maintains and
frustrates the class divide.
I feel that the American public school system creates unprepared citizens
and the college and university system creates debt slaves.
Fiona: I remember once saying to you that black people are good at sports
and music. You immediately corrected me. Why?
Mr. Shabach: I see music and athletics as an avenue that we are pushed
through to achieve meaning in society. Some of the most powerful and popular
Black Americans are known from music and athletics, because that is where
we are excepted---expected and frankly groomed historically. I want the
other avenues that show the diversity of our skills to be exposed.
Fiona: So the first step is to eliminate stereotypes. What are the major
changes you have observed with Black Americans in the recent years?
Mr. Shabach: I think that we have continued the progression of our self-
awareness in this country. What you are seeing now is the latest generation
bumping against the walls of white supremacy. I don’t think the economic or
religious beliefs have changed so much. What’s different is the fact that
we are more aware of the conditions of others like us around the country.
Fiona: In that sense, maybe we should view some of the conflicts around us
as a positive sign. If you one day became a mayor, what would you do to
foster equity and harmonies in our society?
Mr. Shabach: The first thing any community needs is opportunity. I believe
that attracting new industries to my hometown will replace the ones that
left long ago. We have much land but not capital to build on it. I have
ideas that will allow new companies to use that land and low cost of living.
I believe that the lack of harmony or, as America calls it, the race
question stems from economic competition.
There are countless cities across America that have been burned at the hands
of White Americans in the name of economic competition. My hometown of East
Saint Louis, IL is one such town that suffered at the hands of white riots.
The real history of the United States---not the watered down public
education version---shows that much of the racial tension stems from
economic competition. My race went from a position of being economically
exploited to now being economic competed for the very people who used to
make a living off of us.
When you understand that, then it is not hard to see where the violence and
hate towards my race comes from and still persists today. I am confident
that is why black riots are highlighted the way they are---to cover the
history of the white riots. It is easy to show a broken man off to the world
for contempt, when you have been beating him privately. It is not
complaining or making an excuse to say that the capitalist economic system
depends on a permanent underclass and in numerous ways Black Americans have
been made that underclass. The solution however goes beyond simply
identifying the problem.
In my country the words "our jobs" creates a lot of tension; it shows just
who thinks everything belongs to them. That is why I believe harmony is only
obtained through prosperity that we obtain from ourselves. But not even
this guarantees peace as the example of Black Wall Street in Oklahoma shows.
A prosperous all-black town was destroyed by White Americans in a series of
riots that lasted for days-again, in the name of economic competition. I am
not saying that White Americans have the heart of the devil or that Black
Americans deserve all the tears of the world. I am saying the strife and
results you see between these two races is not the results or one group's
superiority versus other groups’ worthlessness. You are watching the
conflict between one group whose success hinged on the other, and the other
group looking for success independent of the first.
I am not a segregationist, and I reject the notion that cities or areas have
to be all one race or another. I have to sometimes think in the mindset of
my race doing for ourselves, because that is the basis of any community,
racial or otherwise. I want my city to one day embrace immigrants from all
over the world. I want people from Palestine, China, and Cuba in the city of
East Saint Louis, because I believe diversity and strength in the common
goal of shared prosperity is the best defense against white supremacy.
I believe the current state of my race makes us natural allies to people who
are fighting against unfair opposition and oppression. It is not that we
are permanent victims---it is a reality that we are in a permanent struggle
against an economic system that disallows us to make value for ourselves.
There are many groups living and dead that have struggled against this very
system, but we carry on getting stronger as we go. I am confident that one
day we will truly buy our freedom and our image.
Fiona: Well, Mr. Shabach, you left me nearly speechless. "Harmony is only
obtained through prosperity that we obtain from ourselves." The future of a
group is, in the end, determined by the goals and efforts of the same people
who form the group, not someone else. Thank you for sharing your wisdom
with us, and I look forward to seeing your dreams come true. |
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