The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

In this week’s blog assignment we had to explore the personal side of bias, prejudice and oppression:

What memory do you have of an incident when you experiences bias, prejudice, and/or oppression, or witnessed someone else as the target of bias, prejudice, and/ or oppression? Keep in mind that one can encounter such incidents in real contexts, including online environments, as well as fictional ones, such as movies, books, television shows, and the like.

I can remember a show called “A Different World” which was about a predominantly African American college in Virginia. This show I can remember dealt with racial issues from many aspects. There was one episode which dealt with racial biases with students at a college football game. There were two students who went to the football game of a rival school of theirs. When the students came out of the game their car had been spray painted with a racial slur. When they confronted the Caucasian students who they felt had spray painted the car they were faced with name calling and racial slurs, as well as physical altercation. They were all arrested and while they were locked up together there was one kid who had been the perpetrator who knew what they did was wrong and apologized for the incident. They were all released and were forced to work together doing community service work.  

In what way(s) did the specific bias, prejudice and/or oppression in that incident diminish equity?

The students that were Caucasian were judging the African American students on the color of their skin and not knowing anything about them or their characters.

What feelings did this incident bring up for you?

This incident brought up feelings of sadness, anger, and shame. Even though this was on television this is reality for some of us who are African American, who experience this type of prejudiced on a regular basis in different forms and environments.

What and/or who would have to change in order to turn this incident into an opportunity for greater equity?

The mindset of people thinking that because we are of different races, that we should be treated differently because of the color of our skin. In order for us all to move forward we need to not stereotype or have preconceived notions of people of other races. I believe especially in early childhood education that we need to ensure that we are not influencing children to be prejudice. The unfortunate is that if they are being taught this at home there will be conflicts in the school setting.