The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice & Oppression

 

 

During the last few weeks of class and after assessing myself on biases I found that I have formed some biases, and the ONE Hope I have is that I must defeat any biases I have.  I need to commit that I will support all children and their families.  

 

 

 

As an early childhood educator my GOAL is to become culturally responsive, so I can support diversity of children and their families.

I would like to take the time to thank all my colleagues for providing feedback to my discussions and blogs.  I would also like to thank them for becoming vulnerable and sharing their stories of struggles, prejudices and oppressions they have experienced.  

1.   I would start by researching the country of Africa to make sure I know what they are accustomed to including their values and norms, so I can be able to communicate in a respectful manner.
2.  I would incorporate in my classroom the culture in Africa on the board that I have all the other children’s cultures. I would ask them to bring something to the class that I can also put on that board that will share with us something about their culture.
3.  I will make sure that I have an interpreter, so I am able to communicate in case the family do not speak English.  I want to make sure that we are communicating so I can make them feel welcomed
4.  I would invite them to the classroom, so they could share with us a bit about their background, so we can all learn directly from them about their cultures.
5.  I will make sure that I do not cross any boundaries and respect their culture.

         The benefits of preparing before I meet the family and learn what I can about their cultures and beliefs will show that I have an interest in their child and the family as well.  It will also show to them that I respect their culture and that learning more about who they are will open the lines of communication.  I will make them feel welcome and cared for if I show that I have taken the time to learn about their cultures.

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? Keep in mind that one can encounter such incidents in real contexts, including online environments, as well as in fictional ones, such as movies, books, television shows, and the like.

Friday night is family night for us and we love to try out new places to eat, watch a movie, go bowling or anything the kids want to do.  My kids love Friday family nights and we as a family also really look forward to spending time with the kids and doing something fun.  We enjoy trying new things so one day my kids suggested going golf.  We thought well I we can try it even though this is a sport that we have never played or find interesting.  So, the place we looked at took only reservations, so I made a reservation and knew how much we would be paying.  As we arrived to the place it looked very nice and upscale in fact they have a really nice restaurant that I also decided to make reservations and have diner there.  As soon as we walked in the hostess asked if we were lost.  I told her that we had reservations to have diner then golf.  She looked at all of us and then said, “you know this is a very expensive place and I do not thing you will be able to afford it” I was so upset and asked to speak to the manager.  The manager came and had the same attitude as she did.  We ended up leaving because we felt that oppression that we were not wanted or welcome there.

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

I believe that our incident diminish equity because we were Hispanic and were thought that we could not afford a place like that.  The hostess and manager had the same diminishing attitude that we were not wanted there and that they did not want to provide us any service.

What feelings did this incident bring up for you?

The first feeling was a sense of sadness to see how my kids had to experience such harsh cruelty.  I had a talk with them and my little one didn’t understand much how mean people can be but my older girls did understand that sometimes people judge us for not being white.  I have to be honest that I have gotten  a bit afraid to try new places because I do not want my kids to experience another discrimination  

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

This is such a great question but very hard to see it turn into a reality.  Society must change their way of thinking and not separate and discriminate people because they are from a different background, or have different skin color, or an accent.  With all the cultures and backgrounds, we make a great nation that everyone should want to have the opportunity to learn from each other’s diversities.