The most blatant and hurtful
incident involving bias, prejudice, and oppression that I have witnessed
involves a white teacher and some white students targeting an a young African
American girl, named Brenda. The
incident took place in the 1960’s, the first year my school was integrated.
Brenda was the only African American in my class that year. I remember that
only two of us would even speak to her. The rest just stared and smirked at
her. Our school culture and studies were very different from her old school as
well as her home culture. She spoke English, but not in the same way we did and
her grammar was lacking. It was evident that she was very uncomfortable and scared, but the teacher called
on her anyway. When she gave a wrong answer, our teacher called her
ignorant and lazy. Later in the
day, she was called the “N” word by
several other students all because of how she spoke the English language and
the color of her skin. After these two incidents, she slumped her shoulders,
dropped her head, and tears fell down her cheeks. I was appalled at what
had happened, felt ashamed of my own race, and understood discrimination for
the first time. She was so hurt and I felt so sorry for her. The incident
diminished equity in that the message was sent that the white race is superior
to yours, you are beneath me, so I have power over you. This is in itself is
disgraceful in my opinion. As time went on and years passed, I realized how the
ideas behind white supremacy and the false stereotypical ideas they foster lead
to the oppression of an entire group of people. Everyone would have to change
to turn this type of incident into an opportunity for greater
equity. It would require coming together, getting to know one another, acknowledging,
understanding, and accepting differences as well as similarities. It would
require reflection, ridding hate, and instilling love for all. It would be
challenging but not impossible.
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