Philosophy of Social Justice
Social Justice is the idea and belief that everyone is equal despite of one’s background and social status. Social Justice is having the knowledge and critical thinking skills to realize the injustices around individuals and the world. Social Justice is taking action against those injustices by creating awareness and struggling together as brothers and sisters. Having a social justice mindset or lens is crucial because it provides an individual with the ability to look beyond the constant deception that is fed to them. In my classes the teachers always connect the subject that we were focusing on to a social justice issue occurring locally or globally which opens our eyes to realize that the world is not perfect and that many people are put at a disadvantage because of an oppressive higher power. However, when communities try to obtain social justice they run into obstacles like a lack of resources their fight for justice involves a struggle against a higher power. For example when community members in the Little Village and North Lawndale areas began to fight CPS to have a high school created they were ignored for many years and had a difficult time trying to arrange a meeting with the board. So community members were able to get passed the obstacles and succeeded even though the odds were stacked against them. That is the biggest obstacle when trying to fight for social justice. When fighting for justice it’s difficult knowing that the chance for success is slight.
The strategies that are taken when trying to achieve social justice are usually pacifist techniques such as protests, meetings, and rallies. Using our intelligence and our educational background is what leads us to achieve social justice because it’s about negotiating and getting our voices heard, not intimidating our opponents with force. Those of us committed to social justice will continue to apply social justice to our everyday lives by realizing the injustices around us and taking action to try and change those injustices. I wish to major in sociology and criminal justice and hopefully one day work within the criminal justice system. My role in the struggle would be to create some change in the criminal justice system to decrease the disparities within it that have been putting black and brown people at a disadvantage.
The strategies that are taken when trying to achieve social justice are usually pacifist techniques such as protests, meetings, and rallies. Using our intelligence and our educational background is what leads us to achieve social justice because it’s about negotiating and getting our voices heard, not intimidating our opponents with force. Those of us committed to social justice will continue to apply social justice to our everyday lives by realizing the injustices around us and taking action to try and change those injustices. I wish to major in sociology and criminal justice and hopefully one day work within the criminal justice system. My role in the struggle would be to create some change in the criminal justice system to decrease the disparities within it that have been putting black and brown people at a disadvantage.