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.