The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

What memory do you have of an incident when you experienced bias, prejudice, and/or oppression, or witnessed someone else as the target of bias, prejudice, and/or oppression?

I have a couple of incidences that come to my mind. One of the first one that was a target of bias or oppression or even prejudice was a young child in the same grade as me.  He had dark skin and was kind of chubby and did not dress like others.  I remember he was always leaving when we said the pledge of allegiance.  I always wondered why.  Back in my day sometimes it was not smart to ask questions, especially of this type.  I noticed through the year(s), he was excluded from the celebrations and he had to go the library or sit tin the hall and do some sort of worksheet. I finally got brave and asked, (it took until sixth grade), that it was because of his religion.

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

I really thing that there was no equity at all.  He was singled out of the whole school.  This child was the only one who was singled out this way.  There was not one way that he could participate.  There were not previsions made to meet his needs. I remember the teachers saying, “well it is his choice, we cannot do anything about it!” I know that by the time this child was 16 years old he was robbing and using drugs.  I believe that he was in prison as well.

What feelings did this incident bring up for you?

There is much that comes up for me.  It comes down to that we will never make everyone happy. However, in the 21sr century we should be more educated on what to do.  I know that it bothers me in my program that we cannot celebrate holidays and we cannot learn the pledge of allegiance among many other cultural events. 

What do we do with a situation like this little boy?  He has really known idea other than what his parent taught him.  I know it made me feel bad. I felt powerless myself because of some of the things that happened to me. Plus I those days you did not ask questions.

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

Well definitely I feel that the teacher, actually the whole school administration. By getting to know there students they would have known that this young person was not able to participate in all these activities and maybe planned something different for the day. I feel that the individual teachers can be sensitive to this belief. As for the pledge of allegiance, I am not sure.  I feel that I am being prejudiced against because I cannot share this simple poem that was written for the flag and our country.

As educators we have to be aware of everyone’s special need.  Early childhood is an essential. Habits, feelings and outlook are structured in these early years. Once again I believe we need to form the relationship with the parent and find out what their needs and wants are and really work around what they tell us.  Therefore, it seems that there would be a win/win.