Navigating Discrimination; A Summary of Episodes 1 and 2

By Em Olsen

In today’s world, the conversation around race and discrimination is more important than ever. According to the FBI, In 2022 alone there were over 6500 racially motivated hate crimes in the United States. Racially motivated crimes make up 59.1% of all hate crimes committed. These numbers are alarming, and navigating identity in a dangerous world can be a challenging subject.

The InclusiTalk podcast attempts to grapple with this harsh reality in episodes 1 and 2 of their podcast, titled Navigating identity and Discrimination Journal respectively. 

In Episode 1 titled “Navigating Identity,” speakers Ivy, Kate and Rameen poignantly speak about their identities and the experience that comes with each of their unique situations. Ivy talks about how she is from Taiwan but lived most of her life in Qatar, and how this affects her perception of Taiwan in her yearly visit there. In a similar situation to Ivy, Kate is from the Philippines but grew up in British Columbia, Canada. She discussed her feelings of disconnect from her culture due to being raised in Canada opposed to the Philippines. Rameen, who hails from India but grew up in New Jersey agrees with Kate and the feelings of disconnect that make navigating identity a challenging process. While all of them are from different sides of the world, they can all relate to their shared appreciation of where they came from. 

In episode 2 titled "The Discrimination Journal", Kate, Ivy and Rameen share their experiences with discrimination in their daily lives. They talk about hurtful things said about east and south asian people and how it goes far beyond a simple joke. It can have real, lasting psychological effects on the people it is levied against, so they stress the importance of having conversations about racism.

You can find both of these thoughtful episodes on the Inclusitalk website, or on their Youtube channel.