It is my experience that the nature of prejudice is stemmed
from ignorance. I admit, that as a woman from a multiracial background I have
historically found personal offense to all forms of prejudice or racism. It is
only through education that I have learned to put aside my anger and resentment
in order to make an effort toward positive change. In this case, educating the
less enlightened has become my calling. It isn’t easy as some bigotry cannot be
conquered in the hearts of others. That requires a willingness to learn, which
is an active decision for both parties involved. An example I give of my
personal experience involves a discussion in the classroom when I was attending
junior college.
It started in this way. We were discussing the reasoning
behind affirmative action in a government class. I saw through the corner of my
eye a young man who raised his hand and stated the following words “I don’t see
why we even have it, slavery happened so long ago. It has nothing to do with
me”. I confess my personal irritation rose like a fire inside my chest, but I
knew better than to respond with anger. It is far better to respond with calm
logic and reasoning. So I raised my hand and responded calmly. This is what I
said “if you take a people from their home to lands they know nothing about,
then refuse to educate them beyond basic language functions, you are crippling
them. Then, if you then continue with three hundred years of lesser educational
opportunities, lack of qualifying textbooks, and racial segregation designed in
favor of the other what you have then is generations of people who were
purposefully held back from society.
Affirmative action is designed to even the playing field and while some
people complain that it takes positions from other qualifying students, it is
nothing compared to hundreds of years of having education flat out denied”.
What followed was a discussion where it was revealed that there are still some
resentments that time has not healed. The class came to the conclusion that
even though slavery and the civil rights movement happened before many of us
were born it was still relevant history. We are still overcoming former
failings not as white, black, Native American or Hispanic people, but as a
nation of people wanting to see change for the better.
Perhaps my way in combating prejudice is not all that creative.
My way is simple. I consider where would be oppressor’s anger or ignorance is
stemming from. Is it lack of knowledge or a personal feeling of hurt,
inadequacy or failure? I choose to respond with less anger and rely on my
reasoning. At times I get no headway with that individual, but I do tend to win
the agreements of others. It is not so important to change the minds of a
select few who cannot look past their personal feelings in order to see a
bigger picture. It is more important to prevent the corrupting of minds by
instilling a strong respect for the diversity of this world through education.
In short it is important to lead by example. If I provide an ‘other’, then I
can’t be classified into one role or space. An intelligent person is then
challenged to think that if there is an other than ‘what if?’ If I have
inspired that, then I consider it a win.
