The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

When I was 11 years old I was a victim of a bias and prejudice incident. One Saturday evening I walked to the corner store with my two Hispanic friends because they had to purchase some bread for their mother. As we entered the store the Asian store owner watched my every move. Once we got to the bread isle he could not see me because the potato chip rack was blocking his view. Once we got the bread we went to the counter and they paid for the bread. As we were about to walk out the door the Asian store owner yelled, “Little black girl come back here”. I walked back into the store with my eyes opened wide because I had no idea why he wanted me to come back into the store. As I got closer to him he began pulling out my pockets asking me what I took. My friends were laughing but I did not find anything funny because I was been terrorized for nothing. Once the store owner saw that I did not have anything he said you kids get home now. As we began walking up the street may Hispanic friend Carlos pulled out two bags of chips that he took from the store without purchasing. I took off running home because my mother always told me not to associate myself with negative peers.

The ways the bias and prejudice diminish equity was that because I was African American I was searched due to the fact that I appeared to be a suspect since that is the way society portray African American. I was discriminated against because of my race. My Hispanic friend was not searched when in the end he was the one who stole the items.

This incident brought feelings of lonliness because I felt isolated due to my race. I knew that I was being treated unfairly because I am an African American. Against all odds I was sad and felt as if I had to always prove my innocence to others because of my race. This placed a burden on my heart and I never went back into that corner store.

The Asian store clear and society itself would have to change in order to turn the incident into an opportunity for greater equity. I say that society in general would have to change by not labeling, prejudging or stereotyping individuals because of their race. At some point racial profiling has to end. Since we live by societal norms we would think and act in the manner that society portray the “way of living” by what one should or should not do.. As a nation we should not want others to have feelings or loneliness, depression or despair because of the way people treat them.