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Reiko Ikeno
29 May 2016
Race and Social Justice
Professor Lo
Freshman Inquiry Final Reflection
As an Asian female born on the Big Island of Hawaii and going to a small public school,
I never really felt like I was like all the other kids. I always tried really hard to be like everyone
else, especially high school. Most kids were Hawaiian, Asian, White, with all kinds of mixes in
between and i guess I fit into that racial norm, but not exactly. People assumed that I was
Hawaiian because I was dark for being full Japanese, but those that were normal all had some
kind of Hawaiian blood in them. There was a lot of racial tension if you were a white kid that
moved from the mainland and came to Konawaena High School. They would get made fun of
for the way they dressed and how they acted and I knew that it wasnt right to treat them the way
kids would, but I never said anything. The hatred of the white man from stealing Hawaii and
turning it into a state of America still lingers and will linger for a long time. I knew the only
reason why Hawaii kids would act in these ways is because of parents and grandparents, but it
shouldnt be taken out on kids trying to get an education. This was my first taste of racism. I
always wanted to put a stop to this but I truly had no idea how to start. There were no classes
offered about anything about civil rights, or any organizations advertized targeted towards
equality for all people. Ironically, a majority of school administration was white.
I think the very spark of journey into deeper thought and looking into the meaning of life
was the summer after high school graduation when I found part of my identity that I was looking
for. One day when I was watching Youtube videos, I stumbled upon a channel by a girl named

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Essena Oniell, a vegan girl from Australia. She was really beautiful and had an attractive and
addicting personality, making me subscribe to her and watching every single one of her videos
ranging from Whats in my Pantry? to Favorite Cruelty Free Beauty Products and Tips for
Vegan Beginners. She always talked about how the meat, dairy and egg industries were so cruel
and that it was not right to be killing animals at a rate of 300 lives per second.
I loved animals my entire life, always adopting stray cats and loved playing with other
peoples pets, so it confused me that there was so much cruelty in something I participated in
every day. I was a huge meat and dairy lover, and was known by it from all of my friends and
family. I dont think there were many meals I ate that didnt contain any animal products. I
never considered going vegan because vegans were extremists and I could never give up my
favorite foods. We all have watched Food Inc. and or Super Size Me once in our lives, which are
movies aiming to shed light on how animal products contribute to disease and obesity, but it was
just something you thought about a week after watching it, and then you go back to your life of
pretending it never happened, or at least I was always like that. I remember in probably eighth or
ninth grade I decided to go vegetarian for a little bit, but still eating fish and chicken because
fish and chicken are vegetables right? That probably lasted for a month or so, I cant quite
remember.
Essena always talked about how she linked really great videos about veganism in her
video description bar and it wasnt until a few weeks after subscribing to her that I decided to
watch one called 101 Reasons to Go Vegan, a presentation talking about the hypocrisy in
saying we love animals, yet eat them too. In the presentation there was a two minute clip of a
typical factory farm and I could barely watch it. Even if someone were to argue that these were

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isolated incidences, how could I even risk that chance? I was a direct contributor to this
industry and I needed to stop paying for this cruelty.
The second I committed to going vegan was one of the best moments of my life and at
that instant I could feel a huge weight being lifted off my shoulders after over 18 years of
cognitive dissonance and lying to myself that this was okay to participate in. Through veganism
and all this knowledge I attained after weeks of researching, I began to feel way more
comfortable having conversations with people about topics that were not talked about often.
Because I was so passionate for this lifestyle, I had no problem confronting people that
questioned what I was doing and rebutting when they would make a comment about how its
okay to have meat once in awhile or talking to me like I was on some sort of diet to lose weight.
Before, I never had a particular stance on various issues, and I was uneducated in many topics, so
I wouldnt even try to question others when they said something that I knew wasnt right. The
only person I would actually get on about spewing ignorant comments was my mom, and all Id
say was dont say that, but veganism opened me up to participating in these conversations. I
knew that I wasnt more compassionate than everyone else, yet I was the only one that
committed to not paying for these industries, so it was my job to educate people about the vegan
lifestyle and actively participate in fighting vegan stereotypes and myths and getting facts out
there.
I felt this overwhelming power when people would try to talk down on me about my
lifestyle, yet when I would question something about their non vegan lifestyle, they couldnt
reply. I began to realize that the reason for them not having anything to say is because they were
not properly educated in why we grew up to believe that we have these certain core beliefs and
no evidence to back it up. It was just something we were told by people in positions of power to

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believe. A common statement I get shoved in my face is: You need meat to get your protein.
Youll get protein deficiency without eating meat. But no one can answer the question of Can
you tell me how much protein you need in a day? You would think that we would know the
simple answer to this question if they were to question me about how much protein Im getting,
but I dont think one person out of the hundreds that accused me of not getting enough protein
could give me a confident answer with a credible source. Even I before going vegan thought I
needed meat, dairy, and eggs to be healthy, but where did we get this information from? And why
have we been conditioned to believe that meat is the only source of protein? Of course I get my
protein, its just not from animal products, which is somehow not as good as meat. It has been
embedded in our minds since we were born from rich companies to see ads of how good animal
products on the television, on billboards, in magazines, on social media, even in education
systems and the doctors office.
Not only do they advertise these products, but they create this fantasy that the consumers
just feed off of. They put pictures of happy, cute animals in the ads in a big grassy field with
farmers taking good care of the animals. They label the foods as grass fed and cage free
and humane meat to make us pay more thinking we are actually doing good for these animals
we have been taught all our lives to love and care for and protect. I dont think there is a human
way to kill some that wants to live.
I felt so violated and upset that these industries were taking advantage of billions of
people worldwide and that I didnt realize this until now. What else were they tricking us into
believing? We did not only believe, but we would even fight against others that challenged these
beliefs with practically no evidence.

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My curiosity in the system most likely led me to take the Race and Social Justice
Freshman Inquiry. I really enjoyed learning about how whiteness was defined in the law and
how they decided what the characteristics to being white were and who got to be white. Today,
we would most likely see whiteness as someone who has light skin, but back then, only certain
ethnicities could benefit from white privilege. I connected with Lopezs transparency
phenomenon, a theory that whites do not see themselves as a race because they are the norm.
This can be applied to people in any position of privilege and how we as a society define
whiteness. Somehow we have been forced to believe that all people (especially in America) are
equal, but where is the proof? Just because it is against the law to physically enslave people of
color like we have for centuries doesnt mean we dont enslave them in different ways. The truth
is that people of color have lower graduation rates, higher poverty rates, lower incomes, higher
drop out rates, and more, which proves that America isnt as free as we want to believe. Also, at
many points in our discussions in class, I saw connections in how human rights activists fight for
the same things as animal rights activists. For example, the idea that real men eat meat, and in
ads of meat, women are sexualized to serve men.
Although we have only had time to learn the basics of racism (specifically in the U.S.),
many the issues we face today regarding civil rights are all interconnected with race. Sexism,
genderism, racism all stem off of the heterosexual, male dominant, white supremacist society we
have all been forced to live in. Many activists that fight for one or a couple of these topics fight
against the same oppressors and share similar messages, but many times they are considered
separate and may even come in conflict with one another, taking steps back from whats really at
hand. I wondered if there there was a better way to fight this structured society. I believe that

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the system is complex and there are more than just one way it stays in place. The system would
be nothing without its inhabitants and our constant need to power and competition.
This got me thinking about how this world has grown to be so materialistic and
distracted, our focus is not on the right things. I know because I used to be one of them and I
still struggle with it every day. We are taught that you have to have an expensive dream house
and a dream car costing millions of dollars, forgetting that we have the privilege to want an even
bigger and better house than we already have, and forgetting there are people who dont have a
house at all. It is sad that we somehow have connected success with money, like they go hand in
hand, and that when people think of success we think of a job, and not only just a job, but a job
that pays well for material things that we dont need. For a while, I was stuck in this materialism
trap, always dreaming living in Greece with a house overlooking the ocean and a black Range
Rover and being with someone that would buy me expensive clothes and jewelry. Spending all
of my money on clothes and makeup and adoring the people that also did that, who had more
money than I and spent more money on these things. Im trying to live a more minimalistic life
and choosing to cut off friends and people that are immersed in that material trap.
At one point I was in to following celebrities on social media like the Kardashians, and
they are the epitome of materialistic people. Unfortunately, they are also one of the most popular
and rich people in America, which shows what our society as valuable and something to aim for.
I dont think I ever wanted to be like them, but I am definitely guilty of once feeling that I wish I
had more money and wishing I looked like them. I knew they werent good role models, but I
still followed them on Instagram and Snapchat, before realizing I was part of the problem that
they were so famous. I unfollowed every materialistic celebrity shortly after.

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This leads me to my next realization that also is about money. A term that is common in
the vegan community (although it can be applied to anything) is, each dollar we spent casts a
vote for the world you want to live in. I think this is a very awakening quote because it directly
makes you as a consumer responsible. Money is what drives our country and most of the first
world problems we have involved not having enough of it. Every time we buy something, we
are making a demand for something whether it be food or cars or houses. The reason it is popular
in the vegan community is because after telling or showing people about what is really the
animal product industries, it is important to note that people that eat these products not only
tolerate these practices, but indeed pay for it to happen.
A few months ago I started to really try harder to get involved with animal and human
liberation. I know that I cant go to an event or protest every day or every week, even every
month, but I found that i could spread the message to my hundreds of social media friends almost
daily, which made me feel good because all I ever see on social media is videos made for
entertainment. I just think theres so much videos and articles and resources online that are meant
to be shared, and many of them dont go used. The videos that go viral are always something
funny or something cute, never something challenging the system even if the there is a perfect
argument with no flaws. I have a hard time respecting people that dont use their social media
accounts for something other than themselves. We are so privileged to be able to have access to
the internet and the least we could do is use it to share deeper knowledge.
Moving to Portland, I found that there is more opportunity to get involved with activism
for social chage than in Hawaii. After going to an animal liberation event recently, I pretty much
found the missing pieces that the vegan community I followed was lacking. At the meeting, we
talked about how the quote each dollar you spend casts a vote wasnt really effective in the

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long run. Putting our money to a different, more ethical company was still making companies
chase after money. Even if everyone stopped buying dairy milk and started buying soymilk,
these companies that only care about profiting would not be changing. It wouldnt be changing
the ethics of the companies, switching our money to something else. It would be like the next
new trend. Im still in the process of figuring out how to dismantle this structure of power
with money, but I think it starts with me personally not paying for more than I need. This event
just planted the seed of my thoughts on this issue.
The last significant component to my intellectual journey, would probably be when I read
The Secret by Rhonda Byrne at the beginning of the year. The book explains the law of
attraction and what you consume your thoughts with and what you believe will happen will
happen, whether it be positive or negative. The book has directly influenced the way that I think
and puts me on the same frequency as my goals and reminds me to be grateful for what I have.
One of the main chapters in the book is gratitude and that section has retaught me to be grateful
for everything I have and just to wake up in the morning is something to be grateful for. I tend to
focus on the more positive things in life rather than dwelling on the negative and I think it's
something that everyone can get something out of. I think this book can be applied to your
whole life, and it works for me, so it's just icing on the cake to everything I learned this year and
how much Ive grown and changed. One year ago I was graduating from high school and had no
idea where Id be, but Im glad I am where I am and there is only room for improvement from
here. Transitioning to veganism, taking a race and social justice course, and learning the law of
attraction has shaped me into who I am today and has everything to do with my morals and
values, and I am forever grateful that Ive had these experiences.