I always hear about gentrification, but I never really understood the catastrophic impact it has aside from people being forced to move. The fact that low-income citizens are forced out of their homes, whether explicitly or implicitly, is awful. Gentrification is chaotic and destructive when low-income families are forced to move because their landlords increase the rent […]
My grandmother was a victim of the horrors that the Holocaust wreaked on the Jews of the 20th century. She was deported to Siberia on a cattle car. She and her father caught malaria and she watched her father perish. She was starving, freezing and suffering through awful conditions. Through it all, she held on […]
My name is Batsheva Ettinger. I am a highly motivated, pre-dental, American, Jewish girl. The person I am today is very strongly influenced by my roots. Looking back at my father’s parents who immigrated from Poland and my mother’s parents who were born and raised in Brooklyn, both played a major role in my development […]
The site, Be More, describes a very relevant issue in today’s societies: implicit biases. The site reads, “Implicit biases are ingrained habits of thought…are outside of awareness but their implications are clear to those affected by them.” Reading about implicit biases, I realize I experience it all the time, not consciously but subconsciously making assumption […]
Wednesday, March 30, 2016 As I walk into the African Burial Ground, I am scanned by security. I understand that I am walking into a government building that holds great significance. The first thing I notice is the timeline of the creation of the burial ground. It was a long process creating this building that […]
What is a race? The term race is a very problematic one that has been used incorrectly time and time again. In Lifespan Development, a Topical Approach, Feldman describes that although race is purely biological, it has taken on many more meanings, such as skin color, religion, or culture. “Depending on how it is defined […]
What defines American culture? The fact that it’s a “melting pot” or a “salad bowl”, depending on which way you look at it. The fact that it’s unique because it’s not just one culture. It’s the build up of culture after culture that was brought here, to the New World. There’s only one reason America […]
The day is Wednesday, February 10 and the weather is a little less than beautiful. Cold, gusting winds bite my face as I head to the High Line down 9th avenue to 15th street. I see men and women of various age and race going about their daily lives; the smells of cigarette smoke and […]
