Looking back on all the information we have taken in across this semester is a daunting task, but I feel as though there are some stings of connection between all the topics we have covered. The prominence of racism in places one would never imagine it, or rather not want to imagine it. The importance of vocabulary and how the smallest detail can change an entire piece. Overall, I think the most important topic mention is how common it is for people to categorize things as good and evil.
The very first reading we were assigned this year was the introduction of Medical Apartheid Harriet Washington. The chapter recounts the story of Doctor James Marion Sims and the progress he made in the field of gynecology. His discoveries have benefited the medical world tremendously, but the feeling of these findings change when looking at the fact that they were made through experimenting on unconsenting, enslaved women. At the beginning of the semester, I was overwhelmed by this. It was hard for me to look at both the positives and negatives of the situation, but as the class has progressed I now see both sides.
This first reading works as a perfect example of what was to come throughout the course. Washington provided information of the situation, unbias and completely truthful. The facts may not be well known by the public, possibly even hidden from them. And with what we have read, we learn to find balance and then apply our learnings to other areas. There are many topics that when first seen, one wants to shove into the category of “bad.” Its human nature almost to see things in black and white, but the gray area is where most aspects of the world live. Its a lot like the death card in the tarot deck I spoke about in one of my previous posts. It represents an ending, but also a beginning, and both aspects are equally important in finding a true meaning. We were constantly being asked by Professor McMoy to look at the both/and of a situation, and I personally see that as the most important thought to carry on in our readings, and into the real world as well.