I watched a TedTalk called "My road trip to the whitest towns in America" by Rich Benjamin. He went on a 27,000 mile trip for two years to the fastest growing and whites counties in America. He starts by mentioning a word called "whitopia" and he has three different definitions for it. #1: more than 6% population growth since 2000. #2: 90% of that growth comes from white migrants. #3: ineffable social charm, a pleasant look and feel. He went to three major counties that embodied whitopia. They were Coeur D'Alene, Idaho, St. George, Utah, and Forsyth County, Georgia. He stated that Whitopia operates at the level of conscious and unconscious bias. Some things have changed since 50 years ago. People are more acceptable to mingle and mix cultures in an appropriate way. But there are still individuals who act as if they're living in the past still. America is residentially and educationally segregated today as it was in 1970. It is important that we move forward as a country and get rid of the conscious and unconscious bias or we will never grow. The more we move forward, the diversity will grow. By 2042, it is predicted that white Americans will not be the majority race. I really enjoyed listening to this TedTalk because it reminded me how important it is to listen to each culture and race without judgement. As a future occupational therapist, it will be vital for me to remember this when treating someone who had a different culture or belief than myself. We should want to strive as a society to get rid of the bias and grow as a community. As a future OT, I pledge to always keep that mindset when treating every patient. I want each and every individual to grow and succeed!
Link to TedTalk
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