Personal Narrative: Prejudice And Racism

Racial reconciliation can be defined as the bringing together of different races; or in other words, embracing diversity. The value of it in my life is immeasurable. I have been extremely blessed to grow up in a time and culture where I personally don’t experience much racism; where I am not held back from pursuing my dreams and passions just because of the color of my skin. It is absolutely crazy to think that if I was born sixty or seventy years ago, my life would be completely different just for the sheer fact that I’m Asian.

My first recollection of race was daycare. I remember seeing many different skin and eye colors but didn’t understand how they were so much more different than me. I recall asking my mother why I didn’t have green eyes and how my skin color was different. She explained everyone is made differently that’s what makes them unique. My first recollection of racism was in third grade. The nurse came to the classroom to check the classroom for lice. Myself and a few other classmates weren’t checked properly because she didn’t want to touch our hair. Instead of bringing us out individually she called us by a group which made me feel different. Also, I was told it’s impossible to get lice because of the hair products used.

I stared at the piece of paper on the table in front of me. I had sat at the same desk, in the same chair for over an hour now, staring at the same piece of paper. My mind had gone blank with a serious case of writer's block. I looked at the clock on the plain, beige colored wall and sighed. An hour had passed and I continued to look at that dusty, old clock on the wall. Seconds turned into minutes, which eventually turned into an hour. My long, wavy brown hair brushed over the paper that decided if I would become a lawyer or not. I had endured almost seven years of school all to stare at this paper for an hour and have nothing. My vision was blurry, but I ignored it and tried to push through my pounding headache so that I could start my LSAT

I am a 17 year old Hispanic female who was born in Denver, Co. I now live in the northern part of Denver. I attend an Apostolic church and participate in many of their activities.

Racial Inequality Situation : A black man in jail thinking about the unfair society I had a pencil the year I came to jail It wore out in a week from writing Penning down my thoughts for all I can Crying in the jail cell counting the bars I sat down on the cold floor with many scars I was all alone No family, no friends, separated from home

I have this fear of being demoted because the way I look. I’m in a constant battle with the questions, am I white or am I mexican? I have an identity crisis on my hands, and growing up those questions weren’t any of my concerns. During the duration of my experiences involving race I have been placed into stereotypes that deceive who I really am. I would look too “mexican” to wear that outfit or I would sound too “white” to learn Spanish. Racial categories are both confusing and senseless, yet is a significant part in our society.

It was lunch time and I was sitting with Gordy. Everybody was talking about this new guy and how he scared them. Gordy asked me

The area I live in offers few opportunities for improving race relations; in fact, there is very little racial diversity in my region. Nevertheless, I am ready to promote better race relations at every chance. Yes, the scale on which I work is small, but it still helps to push our society to become more accepting. I have never participated in a large event or social rights movement, but I still try to make my mark.

Truth to be told: I don’t particularly pay attention to national events or issues. My family is also incapable of comprehending national issues, especially my parents who do not have any level of proficiency in English. My family lives in a world where we go with the flow, but there are issues that I contemplate whether or not I should be involved in, particularly race inequality. Considering the amount of tension between policemen and African-American around the nation, the race to equal treatment is still ongoing.

I was not always so racially aware. Why should anybody be treated differently in response to the color of his or her skin? As a child I never perceived, let alone understood, race under America’s social construct or societal expectations for certain races, and certainly never saw my racial background as an issue. It wasn’t until the fourth grade when it finally hit me- I’m different.

The distinct scene of race diversity was not introduced into my life until I was at the age of 8. Especially since I was born in an impoverished third world country of 15 million (Cambodia), I was not introduced to another ethnicity besides my own. Heck at one point I presume that my country was the only one on this planet. It was not until my transition from middle school, high school, and college did I started to get a better understanding of the word called “color”. Most peoples might relate to this, but what make you differ from everyone else? Well, the answer is simple and it is classified as “color”.

Born in a small village called Manchester in the country area of Guyana. As the evenings grew dark I would sit in my father’s lap as he retold the history of tense racially aligned political issues between two electoral parties in my country. I never understood what he was talking about, despite his definition of the words and vivid storytelling. Without a doubt, he was conscious of the lack of interest I had in his stories, but would often continue, which was evidently forgotten the next day since I was only 6 years old. At that age often times the stories our parents tell us do not apply to us. However, at the age of 9, I had my very first experience of racism and learned my ethnic identity.

As can be seen from the videos of children we all hold subconsious biases toward other races. We may believe we are color blind because, after all, this is 2017 and we are not a racist society. However, that is is simply not true. More people are finding out how racists our country can be ever since Trump was elected. His campaign empowered racists and sexists people to exhibits their prejudices full force. Now, it important that people who think color doesn't matter to be honest with themselves. The biases are clearly still there. But with most people they are implicit. Meaning subconscious. People have prejudices they are even aware of. And admitting it is part of the learning process.

Coming out of my inattentive state, I had noticed I was fed into having a colored bias because of what I had been exposed to as a child. My mother never was someone who looked at others with a prejudice mindset, which is something I am more than grateful for now. However in my younger years, my classrooms were the culprits behind what influenced me to not want to associate my race nor my ethnicity. History books, movies, shows and my classmates looked down at the color of my skin. White people were always associated with goodness, wealth, success, and education.

I was six years old when I first realized that racial differences exist. It was a year after I my parents decided to it would be best if my siblings and I lived in Jordan with my mother. My parents wanted my siblings and me to learn the Arab culture and the Islamic faith while we were still young. Prior to moving to Jordan, we lived in LaSalle, Illinois where all my friends were Caucasian. I never noticed being different because everyone around me was Caucasian, and no one pointed out that I was different at that time. Once we moved to Jordan, I began to notice that children and adults looked different, dressed different and even spoke an unfamiliar language.