"Diversity" Again
Because we are talking about racism in class and some classmates and I left for two days to a Model UN conference in Kalamazoo this weekend I feel that it's appropriate to talk about the lack of diversity and possible racism in Model Un [conferences].
For this specific conference, which was the Great Lakes Invitational, at the closing ceremonies, one of the GLIMUN board members made a speech at the end commenting on how attending conferences as a delegate promotes your knowledge about diversity as people from different regions and schools attend. This conference, however, to me, represented demographics similar to Troy but in fact worse. Understanding that America is mostly white, it was "accurate" that so was the conference, but that also is evidence against the speaker's statement. Diversity wise, it was so easy for me to pick out the fact that I was the only hijabi in the entire conference and possibly the whole hotel which is a strange occurrence for Michigan schools. The people that attend Model UN conferences are also generally like-minded so learning from each other is something I rarely face. I did, however, get to talk to some kids who know about Troy High and mentioned the quality of our large base and general performance. That being said, anyone who attends a MUN conference is there because they have the privilege of time to prepare and most of all... can afford it. So when the dance floor at the delegate dance was full of kids who were passionately excited for "truth hurts" by lizzo but vacantly standing there for "Hot" by young thug... let's just say we weren't surprised..
For this specific conference, which was the Great Lakes Invitational, at the closing ceremonies, one of the GLIMUN board members made a speech at the end commenting on how attending conferences as a delegate promotes your knowledge about diversity as people from different regions and schools attend. This conference, however, to me, represented demographics similar to Troy but in fact worse. Understanding that America is mostly white, it was "accurate" that so was the conference, but that also is evidence against the speaker's statement. Diversity wise, it was so easy for me to pick out the fact that I was the only hijabi in the entire conference and possibly the whole hotel which is a strange occurrence for Michigan schools. The people that attend Model UN conferences are also generally like-minded so learning from each other is something I rarely face. I did, however, get to talk to some kids who know about Troy High and mentioned the quality of our large base and general performance. That being said, anyone who attends a MUN conference is there because they have the privilege of time to prepare and most of all... can afford it. So when the dance floor at the delegate dance was full of kids who were passionately excited for "truth hurts" by lizzo but vacantly standing there for "Hot" by young thug... let's just say we weren't surprised..
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