{"id":49,"date":"2018-03-14T15:40:21","date_gmt":"2018-03-14T15:40:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mosaics.dickinson.edu\/steelton2001\/?page_id=49"},"modified":"2018-03-14T19:08:16","modified_gmt":"2018-03-14T19:08:16","slug":"reflections-on-the-american-mosaic","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/mosaics.dickinson.edu\/steelton2001\/student-projects\/now-and-then-by-caroline-herter-and-colby-baldis\/reflections-on-the-american-mosaic\/","title":{"rendered":"Reflections On The American Mosaic"},"content":{"rendered":"

Caroline’s thoughts…<\/strong>
\nPerceptions and experiences with race and ethnicity have changed over the years for both whites and people of color.\u00a0 Perhaps 50 years ago, Dickinson College would not have conducted this American Mosaic.\u00a0 I consider myself very lucky that I chose to take part in this experience because it was one that took me far beyond the classroom into real life, facing challenges of both my knowledge and myself.<\/p>\n

As I have been reflecting on the mosaic this semester, I have realized that it has been an incredible learning experience on so many levels.\u00a0 As some of you may relate, I come from a racially and culturally homogeneous town where there was only one black student in my high school.\u00a0 All my life I had never been apart of the minority and I had no idea what that was like.\u00a0 Throughout this semester, as we were immersed in the lives of African Americans throughout our classes, I was able to read about events in history that I never fully understood.\u00a0 Whether it was about the shipment of West Africans to America, the treatment of slaves, the great migration North, the Civil Rights movement, up until the present, I realized that there were many things that I was never taught in school, and now this education has relieved a great deal of my ignorance on these events and issues.\u00a0 I now have a greater understanding of the experiences that African Americans have endured in America.\u00a0 The oppression, the fear, the hate, and the hope are all feelings that I have a greater awareness of and now recognize.<\/p>\n

This semester, I have also been introduced to many African Americans, whether it be through literature, historical documents, documentaries, in churches, or through our interviews in Steelton.\u00a0 I have learned to see these people as individuals who are sharing their own personal stories and life lessons with us, rather than considering them as a representative of their race.\u00a0 I think that this is the most important lesson that I learned throughout this whole experience and I am able to recognize this change of perception.<\/p>\n

The American Mosaic became much more than a group of students who took the same three classes and recorded oral histories of Steelton community members.\u00a0 Rather, however, a life lesson of cultural understanding and integration, and a realization of how important education is to racial ignorance.<\/p>\n

And Colby’s thoughts…
\n<\/strong>As I approached the Victorian Brick home located on 121 30th street in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, I felt my nerves tensing.\u00a0 A woman in a teal sweat suit waited on the front stoop for my arrival.\u00a0 My tense feelings soon became feelings of fascination and questioning, for this woman had been on a journey, and we were about to embark on it, again.<\/p>\n

The feelings that I experienced in this interview, in church services, even walking down Front Street to reach The Boys\u2019 and Girls\u2019 Club, all helped me to identify with, not only myself, but also with others. I loved sitting in The Boys\u2019 and Girls\u2019 Club and learn about these children and their life experiences in Steelton and other locations.\u00a0 I enjoyed relating their stories to the oral histories of the adult generations, and then to my own life story.\u00a0 The first time, I think, I started to see this I was sitting in Mazie Baltimore’s living room.<\/p>\n

While sitting in Mazie\u2019s manicured living room, listening to her childhood stories, and her talks about the tough times that both her family and community had experienced, I never imagined that these stories would have such an impact on me.\u00a0 No longer was I looking at Mazie as a spokesperson for her race and generation, but I was looking at her as a spokesperson for her own self.\u00a0 The interview also affected me because I realized that, here was a woman, that I knew nothing about, nor did I ever imagine I would ever know her, but there I was, asking her questions about her life, the sad, the happy, the fun, and the hard times.<\/p>\n

For me, this was a wonderful opportunity that opened my boundaries way beyond these limestone walls.\u00a0 I was learning about this woman whom I never met, I interacted with her during the interview, and discovered that we shared many similar experiences.\u00a0 Never did I imagine, Mrs. Baltimore, who grew up, in a town completely different than mine, in a completely different era, and having a different racial identity, would have so many similar experiences similar to my own.<\/p>\n

I left Mazie\u2019s home, both times I visited, with quite a bit to think about and reflect, because we had so many similar yet so many unfamiliar experiences in our lives.\u00a0 I was left thinking about myself in my generation and my life story, as well as reflecting on the importance of crossing borders and breaking out of the limestone walls to have a better understanding of the world around me.\u00a0 It was amazing to me, that the small questions and the focused interest I invested, allowed this woman to share with me her knowledge and the stories of her great journey.<\/p>\n

In a nutshell, this reflection illustrates just a portion of what this semester has done for me.\u00a0 In addition to these self discoveries, I have also improved on my writing skills, thanks to the editing, editing, editing, as well as learning valuable skills on Adobe PhotoShop, iMovie, Netscape Composer, and the DVC cameras.\u00a0 In terms of academics I can safely say that I experienced what I read, instead of trying to imagine what I read about in past semesters; truly a hands on experience.\u00a0 This opportunity was a huge asset to my career here at Dickinson.\u00a0 I would not have changed a thing about the program, or my experiences.<\/p>\n

….Thanks for visiting us!!<\/p>\n

Return to Now and Then by Caroline Herter and Colby Baldis<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Caroline’s thoughts… Perceptions and experiences with race and ethnicity have changed over the years for both whites and people of color.\u00a0 Perhaps 50 years ago, Dickinson College would not have conducted this American Mosaic.\u00a0 I consider myself very lucky that I chose to take part in this experience because it was one that took me […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":23,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-49","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","post-preview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mosaics.dickinson.edu\/steelton2001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/49","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mosaics.dickinson.edu\/steelton2001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mosaics.dickinson.edu\/steelton2001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mosaics.dickinson.edu\/steelton2001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mosaics.dickinson.edu\/steelton2001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mosaics.dickinson.edu\/steelton2001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/49\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84,"href":"https:\/\/mosaics.dickinson.edu\/steelton2001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/49\/revisions\/84"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mosaics.dickinson.edu\/steelton2001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/23"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mosaics.dickinson.edu\/steelton2001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}