Saturday, February 11, 2012
The Personal side of bia, prejudice, and Operession
One of the first experiences that I remember with prejudice and oppression was a few years ago. I was in church with my family. My cousin was there with her husband who is from Guatemala. This elderly woman said in a loud voice, "Who is that black man sitting back there." My cousin and her husband were not sure how to respond to the elderly lady. Another lady in the church tried to explain to this lady that my cousin's husband was Guatemalan. The lady had no clue about other cultures that were different from whites and blacks. Her lack of understanding of other cultures really made the situation awkward. My cousin's husband did not feel oppressed by the comment but the rest of the people felt oppressed since in today's world we would think that people were more accepting of diverse cultures and relationships.
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Andy,
ReplyDeleteI grew up in the 1950's and 60's. Times were different back then. Diversity was not acknowledged or accepted. This older women probably grew up in the early 90's, and probably didn't understand the effects of her comments. She definitely needed to learn about diversity. I could see my elderly mother making a similar comment, and feeling that she was right to do so! I could never change her mind, her feelings are set in stone. Even though we may not be able to educate portions of previous generations, it is very important to educate future generations.
Mary L.