2024 S2 Reading Effectively and Creatively

Skills Portfolio 1 Sample Reflections Completion requirements Reflection 1 I previously held a belief that people of foreign cultures felt socially accepted and welcomed in the Australian community, particularly in Sydney, due to the diversity of the city. This year I experienced something that caused me to identify gaps in my knowledge (Macquarie University, 2020) and act accordingly to the newly formed belief that racial biases still exist in Sydney. My boyfriend is from Argentina, and though he speaks and understands English fluently, he maintains a Spanish accent. While living with me this year in Sydney, we began searching for new jobs. While visiting various businesses, we noticed very quickly that despite his polite and confident manner when presenting his resume and desire to work, he was often met with an unpleasant facial expression, a cold tone of voice, and would be denied handing in his resume by the workers. ​ ​Svetanant (2020) describes how non verbal cues such as “eye contact” and “gestures” are as powerful at portraying meaning as verbal cues, especially for “intercultural communication”. From the reactions, we agreed that I should speak first as I had an Australian accent and was more familiar with the cultural nuances. The reactions when I spoke were noticeably more inviting, welcoming and polite, and the workers were happy to accept our resumes. The reality that I needed to use my Australian accent to gain respect for the two of us surprised me as it countered my belief that, due to the multiculturalism of our city, Australians from Sydney treated those with foreign accents the same as those with Australian accents. The differing responses I observed demonstrates the “distinction or categorizing and hierarchizing” of race mentioned by Palombo (2020). I had previously been proud of the multiculturalism I experienced growing up in Sydney, but this event taught me that the existence of culturally diversity alone does not automatically result in widespread respect for different cultures, and thus my belief was transformed. The experience caused me to identify a gap in my awareness of a social issue that was affecting the well being of people in my immediate local context (Macquarie University, 2020). Cox (2020) highlights that “to be truly human is to be part of a group”, thus an unwelcoming attitude can cause a foreigner to be discouraged from bringing their positive and unique skills to the Australian community, which is an problem because someone who’s cultural background differs from ours can offer positive qualities that we may be lacking. ​ ​This event brought to my attention that the Australian community was at times overlooking the potential of intercultural experience, and thus missing the opportunity for innovative and creative collaborations (Macquarie University, 2020). I felt a social responsibility to acknowledge and adjust my own impacts to the foreigners in my environment (Macquarie University, 2020). I now am conscious to give off welcoming body language when speaking with foreigners. I make sure to not highlight the difference in someone’s accent, and to apologise if I am unable to understand their english. From now on when I witness Australians adjusting their communication style or actions in a negative direction towards foreigners, I will point out the issues with their behaviour, and though risk an uncomfortable conversation, promote racial tolerance and harmony in our ever-growing Australian community. ​ ​References​ Macquarie University (2020) “BA Hub” ILearn. https://ilearn.mq.edu.au/course/view.php?id=37652 ​ Svetanant.C (2020) “Storytelling as intercultural practice” ILearn - Humanities And The World.https://ilearn.mq.edu.au/mod/book/view.php?id=5800845&chapterid=217020 ​ Palombo.L (2020) “The Intervention, Settler Colonialism and the Incarceration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women” ILearn - Humanities And The World. https://ilearn.mq.edu.au/mod/book/view.php? id=5800930&chapterid=217030 ​ Cox.L (2020) “Studying Politics and International Relations” ILearn - Humanities And The World. https:// ilearn.mq.edu.au/mod/book/view.php?id=5800910&chapterid=217026 Reflection 2 During the summer of 1968, a group of anti-Vietnam war protesters were protesting about the unnecessary involvement of the United States entering Vietnam to prevent the spread of communism. There were many unnecessary deaths among U.S troops, the troops that did return had severe PTSD issues. These protests were known as the 1968 Democratic National Convention Protest Activity. The events surrounding the protests were depicted in the 2020 film titled The Trial of the Chicago 7. The film’s narrative is centred around the 6 month trial of the Chicago 7. The seven defendants were arrested on the grounds of conspiracy by crossing state lines to incite riots during the 1968 Democratic National Convention. ​ With this being a film based on true events, certain story elements were dramatized. I largely did not know much about this event in American history until I came across this film. In watching the story unfold, I was dumbfounded on how judge Julius Hoffman handled the legal proceedings. He used his power and status as a judge to greatly show prejudice and bias against the seven defendants. The film depicts the riots as entirely the fault of the police when in actuality the real riots were to the fault of both the protestors and police. The protestors initiated the violence at first by throwing dangerous objects like spiked golf balls towards the police. Over 192 officers were injured, the film only shows the damage on the protestors side rarely ever showing sympathy for the policemen who were just doing their jobs. ​ The problem was that the judge treated the defendants with utmost cruelty even going as far as gagging and chaining Bobby Seale who was the leader of the Black Panther movement at the time. My problem with this was why would the judge resort to such cruel actions by making decisions that will impact the juror’s decisions sitting in the courtroom. The lawyer representing the defendants told the judge that it was no longer a court of order but a medieval torture chamber. The film does depict the court room events as accurately as it can to its real-life counterpart. The actual trial was worse due to the fact to Seale was actually tied up for 3 days while the film only shows him tied and beaten for a brief moment. ​ In summing up this reflection, I can say that the film does a good job of dramatizing the events especially the scenes involving courtroom drama. However, it’s bias towards the protestors being the good side is a misstep in terms of it’s portrayal of the actual protest. Were the police bad? Yes, but only because the protestors started the riots and in turn caused the police to step in and inflict further violence towards them. In conclusion, the real events were not so black & white and while the film’s depiction of the real life protest were mostly one sided, the events that took place in the courtroom was handled as best as it could. ​ References ​ HistoryvsHollywood.com. 2020. 'The Trial Of The Chicago 7' Vs. The True Story. [online] Available at: [Accessed 4 November 2020]. ​ HISTORY. 2020. 1968 Democratic Convention. [online] Available at: ​ [Accessed 4 November 2020].