The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression
It seems like I have a lot of stories about previous work places, I think I can take them as a positive learning experience.
On my previous job one of our family service workers is Hispanic, so English was not her first language. When the other teachers would ask her questions it would take her a second to respond back because she was processing the information. Several teachers would talk bad about her, making comments that she should not be a family service worker because she couldn't comprehend. This was upsetting to me because I knew she heard the comments that they were making. If any of the teachers making the comments were paying attention, she stated when she was first hired that it would take her a second to respond because she had to process the information. It is sad that a lot of individuals discriminate those who are different, but never consider if the shoe was on the other foot.
When you discriminate against another individual than you diminish there character. It is heart-breaking to see a person being "downplayed" because they do not share the same nationality as the majority.
In order for this environment to change, we must change ourselves, and someone on the outside must stand ground for those whose character is being diminished. The negative is not noticeable if we do not experience it ourselves.
