The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice and Oppression

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  The memory I have of an incident when I witnessed someone being prejudice was watching the movie “ A Time to Kill.” This movie was about prejudice and how a small African-American girl was raped by a couple of Caucasian men in a small town. The father of the little girl decided to take matters into his own hand because he was angry because he knew in that town the men will not be charged. He went and hid in the court with a shotgun and as they were leaving court he shot and killed them. I have watched this movie about 50 times and get something different from it everytime. The prejudice in this movie diminished equity and it left a bad feeling in my heart.
        The feeling I had was emptiness and compassion for the family of the little girl. I felt that as a African American woman that I would do anything to protect my children. In order for this incident to be changed for greater equity the writers should have at least given them some time in prison and not let the men get off. It is sad that even today the media portrays Caucasian murderers as having psychological issues but any other race is a Mass Murderer. We as educators should educate our children about bias and prejudice while they are in our classrooms.

Practicing awareness of Microaggressions

There was a microaggression I saw happen this week and it was one that happened with two families. I was sitting in the classroom and I heard some yelling so  i went in the hall. I looked down the hall and two mothers were arguing. I heard one mother say " How do you know my child is bi-racial? You don't know if I am Hispanic and you don't know her father." The other one replied " Well it looks like he is because his eyes are slanted." I just went back in the classroom and told my co-workers about it. One thing I noticed was the Mother was being racist but she sent a hidden message with "His eyes are slanted." I was so embarrased at the fact she said it in front of the child and I know the parent wanted to lash out more but there was too many people present. Discrimination and prejudice can hurt other's feelings and it causes damage to the children in the future. Some children who have experienced prejudice or discrimination sometimes lack in social skills and lack of confidence.