The lecture on Tuesday the 26th of September for Education, CLD and Social Work was very eye opening in the respect of reminding us that racism and discrimination is still present within society. So many people face it on a day to day basis that it has become a normality for many. Before the input I was quite naïve thinking that racism was becoming a thing of the past. My eyes were opened, however, as I am now extremely aware that racial attacks and severe abuse is still taking place in a very violent manner. Yes, there have been improvements in supporting racial equality such as The “Black Lives Matter” campaign of 2012 yet attacks are still happening. You are eleven times more likely to be shot by Police if you are a young black male and in this day and age, this statistic is shocking.

I had an understanding of the  terms race and discrimination but I struggled with ethnicity and patriarchy. I now know that ethnicity refers to origins and traditions associated with an ethnic group and patriarchy is the system of a society which is heavily dominated by males. I now feel confident in the meaning of the terms and understand them.

The lecture was very influential to me studying to become a teacher as I want to ensure that I can provide a classroom free of discrimination and allow children to grow up being proud of their race, sex and ethnicity. I believe that the lecture was very beneficial to me by allowing my skills to grow in allowing diversity to thrive within a classroom. I also was able to learn of historic events and some shocked me such as the Emmet Till case. The main lesson I took from the lecture was that these four terms no longer have a place within society. As humans, professionals, friends and peers we must work together to ensure a safe and equal environment for everyone.