Hi all,
This week there’s been a lot of interesting topics circulating in our ASTU class here at UBC. The idea proposed regarding which lives matter is a pretty pressing issue. That the lives that we mourn are the lives we consider real, and worth caring about. In this blog post I want to discuss how the idea behind whose lives we consider worth caring, also mixes with the idea of who gets to belong in what we consider the nation.
I also realized that basically all of my classes are intertwined in some way or another. So I’ll also be discussing my GRSJ 102 class, where we discussed the idea of imagined nations. I believe that it all really started with the idea of who was considered an ideal part of our nation. The nation, in turn, is racially, and sexually divided, as well as gendered. Obviously, this is extremely limiting to the larger population. So now we have a very divided nation, in which only some are perceived to belong.
The effects of colonialism, are still present today, it’s not as blatantly obvious, but it’s still present in how we’re systemically divided and how some of us are said to belong and some don’t. The statement behind the lives we mourn, which are the lives we truly care for, is defined by who we see as belonging to our nation. So if the nation is divided and leaves most of of its citizens out of the picture, what does that mean for them? Are their lives north wroth caring?
Of course there’s always been the “us vs. them” talk, but it’s extremely saddening to see it happen within a nation. If we’re fighting within our own country how can we ever be able to progress in the global sphere. Canada has always been seen as this multicultural and welcoming community, but that’s simply not true. As great as Canada may seem it also has it’s fair share of skeletons in the closet.
The USA on the other hand is a different story, they’re so heavily divided it’s difficult for me to see how they’ll advance. Their police system is prosecuting some more than others, and it’s hardly ever justified. The police cover up murders within their system, and it’s all so opaque, which is something that shouldn’t be how the government is handling its affairs. It really says who they consider a life worth mourning, and who they consider a part of their nation in the first place.
I guess it’s all always been staring me in the face, but since university all these issues have really become so clear and so frustrating. Words can’t describe who saddened I am by all these realizations.