bell hooks

In the first passage, bell hooks talks about how her parents were not
excited or happy when she was accepted to Stanford. To them basically any
all black college close to home was sufficient enough. Even though they
didn’t necessarily agree with her decision to go to Stanford, they still
reluctantly supported her. At the time bell hooks didn’t understand that
her parents were afraid they were going to lose her. She says, “I want to
speak about these contradictions because sorting through them, seeking
resolution and reconciliation has been important to me both as it affects
my development as a writer, my effort to be fully self-realized, and my
longing to remain close to family and community that provide the
groundwork for much of my thinking writing, and being.”(153). Here she is
saying that her family has laid the foundation for her morals and values.
Her way of thinking and the respect that was instilled in her by her
parents have shaped how she critiques others and the world around her.
Everything about
her past and childhood has made her the kind of person she is now. Her
parents just didn’t want her to lose that when she went off to a
predominately upper class college. They didn’t want her to be ashamed of
where she came from after seeing all the privileges these other kids have;
most importantly, they didn’t want her to get caught up in a materialist
society and become someone else. Having a good education doesn’t
necessarily make you superior to someone else. This passage made me think
back to when I was applying to colleges. My parents wanted me to go to a
good school but they didn’t see why I didn’t want to go to OU; OU is a
good school and it’s close to home. Did I really need to go somewhere else
to get a higher education? Once I had narrowed down my search and decided
I wanted to go to SMU, my parents, like bell hook’s, were very reluctant
to send me here. They too didn’t want me to forget where I came from and
turn into some snobby rich kid who thinks they are above everyone else. I
wasn’t too
worried about losing my values because I also went to a private high
school where the same SMU stereotype applied. Most people I met outside of
school seemed shocked that I went to that high school because I seemed
down more down to earth and not stuck up. Like bell hooks, I’m sure I
will change, learn, and grow these next four years, but I don’t think I’ll
forget where I came from.
Typically, SMU is a predominately upper class society. People here are more concerned with your economic class; your class defines who you are. People often ask questions like what does your dad do for a living, showing their interest in your financial stability. However, there are a good number of people that come from lower economic classes. Even though they may not have the materialistic lifestyles, they shold try not to get caught up and become envious of what they don’t have. Having money may qualify one to be in an upper economic class, but it doesn't give a person class. People of all different kinds of lifestyles can be classy or not. Money gives you a different kind of lifestyle but rich people can still be grateful and posses some of the same values as the poor have and vice versa.