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Have you ever experienced prejudice in your life?
Posted by RegularGuy • 7/03/08 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: discrimination, predjudice, racism
Have you ever been discriminated against or stereotyped based on race, ethnicity, religion or gender? We have posted one young man’s experience over at one bad ass blog, please click through to 1badassblog.blogspot.com/2008/06/racism-is-alive-and-well.html and read his experience and give us your thoughts on this topic, or stories about your experiences with this topic.
User Comments
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Yes. When I lived in Hong Kong, I was called "gweilo" all the time by the Chinese - the white ghost. They don't think of it as being a racist term though, and in the end everyone, whites included, refers to themselves as gweilos. Kind of like how homosexuals co-opted the terms queer and fag to take the homophobic sting off it.
Another time it didn't happen to me directly, but a Haitian friend was subject to racism in Vancouver. Yeah, Canada, that so-called land of multiculturalism and tolerance. He was trying to find an apartment and the landlord had told him on the phone it was free. When he went over to look at it, it had suddenly been rented out. So sorry, man. I went back to the same place a few days later and he showed it to me, offered to rent it. We were going to get him charged, but we were very busy students then and could never had spared the time. Now I wish we'd have made the effort.-
Yeah... it's funny...(not funny ha ha) how we all just let some things slide for whatever reason which unfortunately only serves to make the offenders that much more offensive the next time.
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Gweilo doesn't means really like ghost. It means white man. I think it means that, because my mom told me that once.. And she's cantonese who has been raised in Hongkong
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Haven't we all at one point or another? Sad isn't it?
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Oh yes. You learn to live with it but not accept it and its a sad fact of life that you have to learn to live with it. The depths of ignorance never seizes to amaze me.-
Me either...
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Yes, yes, yes and yes...but I carry on. If not for myself, at least for those that may perhaps follow me. I refuse to be bitter - Nards-
I hear ya Nards. Just sometimes, that hard outer shell cracks and it stabs our soft centers. Sometimes it just becomes too much and you feel it. Its a suffocating feeling like a huge blanket being thrown over you and you fight just to breath again. You get reminded that people see you differently and at those right moments that can be too much.
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Fly your post moved me and honestly I have had very few incidents of this happening to me, when it did it sucked but to be honest I don't have it in my face like a lot of others do on a daily basis.....here's to one day people just being people-
I hear ya, cheers to that!
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kudos exactly
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I got stabbed twice, once in the stomach and then in the arm. All because of my color.-
Seriously. Thats messed up. I swear people are ignorant enough to fight colors on a rainbow. *sighs*
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That's pretty hard-core... I'm sorry to hear that
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It was bad at the time but it made me a stronger person in the end.
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What doesn't kill us makes us stronger right. But they sure can leave some scary scars though.
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Hey...that's my tag line fly boy... lol
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Ha ha your telling me...got a nasty one on the stomach with complimentary staple railroad tracks..
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Hey, chicks dig scars. Wait, ummm, in your case at least you have a story to tell.
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ya umm a stupid story...
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I dont think thats a stupid story. I think it would be a powerful story that shows the ugly reality of discrimination and prejudice. There's a message in there somewhere and I hope you find it and tell it.
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Hey... the only stupid story is the story you don't tell... wait... no it's the only stupid question is the question you don't ask... ahhh... close enough ;-)
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You know what; I see a lot more overt racism in online gaming. Something about the anonymity of being online and voice chatting with people that brings out the worse in people. There's really nothing you can say to people like that in online gaming because what can you possibly say in a 30 to 45 second window to change their minds. You just have to swallow it as you go and it sucks. You have to just ignore it and then there are other times where it really digs under the skin. Its hard sometimes when even your games aren't safe from judging you.
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I've never gamed before, sorry, but I'm sure that there's racism there too. As far as my story goes. Well, I've told it a couple of times, but not much need to now a days.
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wow have you put it on your blog, be shameless and drop a link girl
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I so would, but I've never blogged about it. I just think that if I put it up on my blog it would just create controversy. Now, I like controversy ( prolly spelling it wrong) just not sure how to word it without it offending half the country. ( As if half the country sees my blog?)
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So put it on the bad-ass... you could even do it anonymously if you prefer... besides your buddy JS has been hangin' with us ova there ;-)
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Thats a good point RG.
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He's a good guy JS
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If you really want the story , I can give you the short version if you'd like?
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Lets hear it. I know how not to get offended, hehe.
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lol. Ok so the story goes. Here I am a "white girl" in a not so white neighborhood in NY. My mother had 6 kids and she was a crackhead. I'm the oldest of the 6. We lived in the ghetto of the ghetto in a 3rd floor building with bars on the windows. I went to this school and made very few friends. There were only 5 light skinned people in this school. Myself and my brother being 2 of them. My ass worked at a local store to make some money for bills and my siblings cause my mother was too cracked out and my siblings needed stuff,and the very little that I had extra I saved up to buy a new pair of Nike sneakers that I wanted really bad. I finally bought them and wore them the same day to school. On my way home I was followed by 2 "not white" girls and one guy. I had no idea. I got jumped from the back and stabbed in the process. In the gut and the arm. I tried my best but I got my ass whooped. As the were whooping my ass they made very racial comments such as cracker and gringa etc. They stole my sneakers, for I had no money. I know that the only reason that I got jumped was because of my color. And they say it there's no such thing as reverse racism?
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Well, when people say there is no such thing as reverse racism they are referring to the oppression of a group of people through power. Not individual cases. When you say reverse racism then that means there is one group that can be racist and everything else reverse racist, the one in power is racist right. Reverse Racism is only applied to minorities acting out against whites, right? That implies that whites are the ones with the power and therefore the ones who are racist and minorities are reverse racist. That term is ridiculous. Racism is racism and anyone can experience it. Your story is a familiar one as a lot of my friends also would get jumped for their pumas, nikes, backpacks, their money. It seemingly had nothing to do with color but more to the fact that they seemingly had money.
Your color was a factor because Im assuming they saw a white girl with Nike's and they assumed she has money. Yes your color played a part in the attack but I want to say it was more because of how they perceived what you had. My friends got attacked for things all the time and they were called racial slurs also but it was always more because of what they had rather than the color of their skin. And I am talking about brown friends, white friends, black friends, all my friends have had an experience like yours. -
I remember being called "white boy" a lot growing up in N.Y. It was a small town, but there's was a lot of racism on both sides. I got jumped a few times but I was a strong kid and could defend myself pretty well.
The N.E. is probably the most racist part of the country. -
Hmmm... interesting... I got jumped for my brandy new black high-top reeboks back in 1986... I happened to be in jail at the time... I wasn't always the calm cool collected law-abiding citizen that I am now ;-) but... the reality is that... in jail... whites are the extreme minority and are preyed upon as such...
Anyway the gist of it is... I got arrested on a friday night, couldn't see a judge till monday and had to spend the weekend in a cell with Earl-the crack-dealer who was black and also no bigger than my pinky so I really didn't have anything to worry about there. But 2 cells down was Ray-Ray who was also black and was awaiting trial for murder and Ray-Ray wanted my new dogs. He was yellin' down the block... referring to me as white boy, cracker, etc... tellin' me to pass my sneakers down or he was gonna f my white ass up.
Being the bad-ass that I was I told him to go f himself among many other things but did not use any racial slurs... He continued with the slurs and the demands also tellin' Earl to get the sneakers for him... This went on all night... In the morning when the cells were opened for day-room time and breakfast...that's when the sh*t went down.
Now Ray-Ray wasn't allowed to mix with the general population but unfortunately for me... he had connections... when I walked into the day-room... everyone else walked out... including the c/o who btw was also black... six black inmates walked in... and ... well... they got the reeboks... I did the best I could too... but definitely took a whoopin' and actually consider myself lucky that I didn't get shanked.
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Thanks for telling us the story mom appreciate it, I hate hearing these accounts, just seems like this country is never going to completely move away from this distructive way of thinking and acting
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No, it's so very true. It's a pathetic thing, but it happens, and there's excuses.
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Everyday-
how achung?
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For me it's been one of those things where black people say I act white. And my white and hispanic friends and family will joke about me acting like a typical white girl. But my friends also make comments about other black people and say that they don't consider me to be like them. Or I get I sound like a 16 year old white girl over the phone when talking to friends or meeting new guys. Idk it all sounds pretty backhanded.
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I've been discriminated against because I am a woman, because I am Pagan, because I am of "the fringe element" because I am not wealthy.....because of my political beliefs.....
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And Ive been discriminated for the color of my skin. Something I have no control over:( Women do still have a ways to go to achieve equality as well. Keep on keeping on.
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I've lived among human beings for about a half-century now, so yes: I've experienced the sorts of prejudice you mentioned, plus one more.
I'm a cripple, and finally figured out an odd set of reactions I used to get from others.
My best guess is that people assume that, because I walk funny, I must be either drunk, stoned, or feeble-minded.
That's their problem, not mine.
I'm also short. And recently discovered that there are organizations battling against the scourge of heightism.
May the saints preserve me from their help.
Prejudice is real, and it can do harm - mostly, in the long run, to the person who is prejudiced. Sounds crazy, but think about it: year after year, with a festering acid of resentment and anger eating away at the mind?
Enough. I'm back to the 4th.-
Wow powerful
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Yes, working in the correctional system where I live. At one particular institution, the staff was primarily Affrican American and they didn't generally care for the caucasians who worked there. -
Mothers of teenagers know why animals eat their young. Prejudice? What else is new? -
One can have an experience caused by prejudice and not even know it. So I bet there are more who have experienced prejudice then we know. -
Yes I have .. I think many have in one form or another
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Yes, I have suffered from prejudice like Anok. Any woman with good looks and a brain, who is faithful to her partner, who chooses not to breed and who fights for political causes is belittled and discriminated against and so the story goes. I consider the source(s) of the ridicule and then I rise above them.
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mostly every day but i don't care :-)-
You've developed a thick skin I guess ... huh ?
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Everyday, by Indians especially on their TV.
Just yesterday here in BC too, when my comment was removed. It was mere a suggestion without any bad word or anything bad. It was removed on the ground of my nationality.-
I don't know what comment you are talking about but I'm pretty sure that none of the moderators would delete a comment based on anyone's nationality. -
Actually, Deray, you're wrong about that.
I always, always use my magical powers of telepatheticky to detect someone's nationality and quickly report them if they're from a country I hate. -
Well Friday, I'm glad you don't hate Mexico
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How can you be so sure?
Reported for being from Mexico. -
It was "removed by community". There was no logical or visible reason to remove my comment. The discussion was about finding a good name for a food blog, started by an Indian person. Everyone one expect me who commented it was Indian.
My comment was "how about indianbites.blogspot.com, if it is already taken just add 'the' in the beginning"
Is there anything bad in my comment?
I was hurt, So I searched this discussion and wrote down my feelings.
You don't know how do Indians behave with Nepalese. Their instinct..... ewwwwwww!! They think all Nepalese are "bahadur"s, their gatekeepers.
I'm not racist, just telling the truth.
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Yes, people may not verbally express it but their body language says it all + tone of voice (like i don't understand anything just cause I am brown !!!!! ) well, after I 've opened my mouth, I usually leave them stunned. Not because I was rude but because I showed them what I am made of
that'll shut them up. LOL...
but then again, I now am used to it being an immigrant & am not bothered by it anymore; unless they are exceptionally rude- I do change my stance & let them know I'm not one to mess with . Best thing is- I rarely have to force myself to do that, I always win them over -
Yes, beginning at the ripe old age of six..maybe seven. My best friend was Hispanic and invited me to Catholic church services. Saint Bernadine's was very old even then; a beautiful brick building with stained glass windows and hand carved pews. A priest stopped me at the door and said I could not attend because I was not Hispanic. Go figure! Who knew churches played a race card? In later years, I faced a lot of discrimination as a woman in the Navy, partly for being female and partly for wearing a uniform.
Can't let such behavior get to you though ... you simply cannot change people. You can, however, change your reaction to them.
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