The one specific ism that I can recall experiencing was racism. A young, Caucasian woman I use to work with disliked me because of the color of my skin. I asked her several times for guidance about responsibilities on the job and she refused to help me. She would make statements such as, "Oh, I'll help you later." or "I am busy right now, ask someone else." At first, I did not understand her frustrations towards me until I over heard her conversation with one of her friends, "I hate that John hired the black girl in the front. I am thinking about finding me another job because I refuse to work with them." I was devastated. Until this day, she never knew that I heard her conversation. However, I continued to be nice to her and figured out how to accomplish my responsibilities on my own.
This experience will and has affected my work with young children. As an African American woman, one would conclude that I would be more sensitive to black children. However, I am more sensitive to Caucasian children, especially since the classrooms that I have worked in were predominately black. I find myself paying more attention to the white students than the blacks. Reason being is that I noticed that some of the white children felt a little uncomfortable and distance themselves during activities and play time. As a result, some of the African American students felt unappreciated and felt that I was being unfair. In fact, this made them dislike the white children even more.
Reference
Burnett,
N. (2008) Education for all: An imperative for reducing poverty. Annals of
the New York Academy of Sciences. 43 (2), p.181-187.
Racism has devastating effects and is one the worst evil that a human being can subject another one into. I write because I have experienced it. Who knows it feels it. Racism destroys the society by destroying our morality and bond of relationship. Unfortunately, racism remains an evil hard to be eradicated. It has to do with the mind, while actions can be regulated through legislation I believe it is hard if not impossible to regulate thoughts and feelings through legislation
ReplyDeleteHi Latasha,
ReplyDeleteI can relate to your post. I have experienced racism as well from a Caucasian person however in a time of need, I have also experienced love from a Caucasian person. I have allowed both experiences to teach me that racism comes from what individuals are taught directly and not a culture as a whole. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Latasha,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your post with the class. I am so sorry to hear that you had to deal with this so openly. I have not had to deal with it so out in the open, but I have always felt some racism, especially because I grew up in a predominantly Caucasian private school and I am African American. There were many times where I felt like I didn't fit in or was uncomfortable unless I was around my own kind. I think the way you handle the children now is pretty typical for people subjected to that type of racism. I would make sure that I give each race equal attention so that history doesn't repeat itself.
Shayla
Hi Latasha,
ReplyDeleteFirst, I want to say that I am so sorry you had to hear that and experience that. No one should have to go through anything like that. This lady was clearly misguided and confused about being a just person. Second, I think that in the classroom it is very difficult to please everyone, sometimes things happen so fast its unbelievable. Racism in your classroom is a major issues. I like to treat all children the same, no matter how one may think of it, that way at the end of the day fairness is present. Creating equality eliminates a lot of hostility even with children.