When I was back in high school I had to ride the city bus to school and one day this man gets on the bus (which was crowded) he stands next to me, looks at me and says, “black B”. I don’t think anyone else heard him, but I was stuck on what I should really do. Did he really mean that or was he just upset because I was sitting down and he had to stand, those were the questions running through my mind.
I was visiting a college friend a few years ago and her husband and her were talking about a person they knew and they made a comment regarding her weight, I felt very uncomfortable being in the car with them and it made me look at them differently.
Last year there was a 5 year old girl who attended the preschool where I worked, in her class was a 6 year old African American girl, she would make comments regarding her color. I was told this by a co-worker and I was disgusted, how could this little girl know anything about racism, except it being taught to her. I went and told the director, she talked to the mother and the mother’s reply was, “she doesn’t know where she got this from, they are not racist”. I am glad to say that the little girl stopped with the comments and started playing with her. Just think if I had not been told, that little girl could have gone through her life being racist. That little girl affected the mood of the African American a great deal; she was insecure about her skin color.
Ayonie,
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately this happens more often then we would like to think. I had a similar issue where the parents response was not knowing where there child gets their information from. My first instinct is yeah right, but I also have to stop and think am I being unfair by not believing the parent. Maybe the child did pick up language from a friend or a next door neighbor. It's such a hard thing to wrap my mind around. What was your response to the parents? Did it change your relationship with the parent?
Ayonie,
ReplyDeleteI really believe that there are people that feel it's their right to say anything they want. They see themselves as the majority and feel that they can say and treat people anyway they want to. Their sense of entitlement makes them feel like they have power over others. I'm sorry you had this experience on the bus. I'm not sure that I would have know what to do in that situation either.
Thank you for sharing your stories. There have been times in my life where things seem so unreal I can't believe it just happened. Especially when you are young. There are times now where I am caught off guard by comments that people make. I never thought of weight as a from of microaggression however, it would be considered that.
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