I have witnessed one of my friends as a target of prejudice. While enrolled in a graduate school in Missouri, I met a wonderful person by the name of Samantha. Samantha is Caucasian and is a very kind person. Whenever I needed help or guidance, she was always there to lend her support. One night, Samantha and I decided to go to a party. Once we were inside the party, I saw some of my classmates on the dance floor having a good time. As Samantha and I were walking towards them, I noticed they began to whisper and rolled their eyes. I pulled one of my classmates to the side and the conversation went as followed;
Me: What's wrong?
Kasey: Why did you bring her to this party? All of the white people in this town are racist and arrogant.
Me: No. She is very nice and so is her family.
Kasey: Well I don't like her and she looks stuck up anyway, but I guess you guys can hand around us.
After they continued to have a negative attitude towards her, we decided to leave and headed back to our dorm rooms. Fairness was indeed diminished in this incident.They formed an opinion about her without knowing who she really was. They did not try to get to know Samantha and judged her based off her appearance and skin color. They assumed that all white people were the same.
This incident brought a great deal of sadness to me. I could tell that Samantha was embarrassed and upset by the way my classmates treated her. We never really addressed the issue but at this point, I feel that we should have. In order for this incident to have changed into an opportunity for greater equity, my classmates would need a different mindset. They would have to change the way they think of others race and not judge others based on their skin color.
Question:
Do you think we did the right thing by leaving the party? Or should we have stayed and ignored the attitudes?
Hi Latasha,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for sharing. I would have been sad for Samantha too. How uncomfortable she must have felt. Part of me would like to stay and ignore everyone, but I probably would have left the party and gone somewhere where we both would felt more comfortable.
Thanks again! Christina
Hello Latasha,
ReplyDeleteI would have been sad as well for Samantha. She must have been really hurt by this situation. I am all for being the bigger person in situations like this, but I know how hard it is. I would probably have left the party and gone somewhere where we were both accepted and felt comfortable being at. Feeling uncomfortable at a place makes things awkward and not fun, so by leaving you could avoid the awkward and uncomfortable feelings and have fun.