Have you ever experienced racial prejudice?

[cell]

Today, I was in school finishing my testing when I overheard this one woman ask this afghani woman "Did you come here to spy on us???" when she found out she was from Afghanistan. She was so humiliated, she burst into tears and walked out of the room. I went after her to check on her. She then told me that she has had a difficult life, and has since made her home here in the U.S. Her husband was in a very bad accident so he is not able to work to support the family they have, so she tried to find a job. When she couldnt find a job, she went back to school to learn office skills. She is a very timid, quiet, shy woman, but also very smart, very brave for getting out of that country and going against the traditions of her family. She loves dressing in clothes that are in fashion(little things we take for granted at times), loves the freedom of living in the U.S. I look up to her as a symbol of hope for other womem in her situation, and I hope that those women in similar situations will follow her example. This woman kicks ass.

 

[missmacphisto]

Thats awful what happened to that lady.

I myself, expreience racism everyday. Where i work, it is an awful neighborhood crawling with illegal aliens, and they tend to hate Americans. They stare at you, gossip about you, laugh at you, follow you, harass you,and can even be dangerous. This - in my own country!!!!

Plus, where i used to live, I was one of only a few people of my race that lived there, and certainly the only young one. My mom and i got treated HORRIBLY. Our house was vandalized, some kids pushed her off her bike, i was followed and videotaped by the same kids, who donned ski and halloween masks, they threatened to kill me, followed me around, threw stuff at me, stole our property, on and on. These parasites didnt even KNOW us!!! And the cops wont help.
Also my mom and i have had racial epithets hurled at us on more than one occasion,, and everyday is hell for me now due to the racism in this city/state/country.

We're supposed to be tolerant of these idiots, but they think its perfectly fine for them to be hateful. It figures.

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Look...look what you've done to me...You've made me poor and infamous, and I thank you...

My name is MISS MACPHISTO...I'm tired and i want to go HOME...

"Well you tell...Bonovista,that i said hello and that my codename is Belleview" - Bono before opening night of Anaheim Elevation concert

Well tonight thank God it's them, instead of you...

[This message has been edited by Miss MacPhisto (edited 03-15-2002).]

 

[martha]

No. I have been very fortunate.

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She's a little lightheaded, so check on her in a few minutes -- my podiatrist, about me (again), 2-11-02

 

[Angela Harlem]

Yeah unfortunately. Some has been personal, some just because this country is like any other, full of racist shit that has 2 sides to each story etc.
Sorry to hear about your probs miss mac. Racism is such an ugly human failing.

 

[dream wanderer]

I had a strange experience last summer. A lot of you know I'm Cherokee...I went back to the reservation last summer...right when we got there our car broke down (thank heavens for triple A

The tow truck guy was taking us and our car to my cousin's house on the rez...he knew I had been born there... but he made these deraugotory remarks about the Indians..things like telling me 'my dad moving us away was the best thing he probably could have done...and 'the Indians talk like they have a moutful of mush'...I have pretty light skin and look hispanic than Indian...so I guess he must have thought I would identify with him...but it was kind of funny...every few minutes he would look over at me... evidently remember who and what I was and apologize for what he just said!!!

That incident amused me more than angered me...I don't really consider it an act of discrimation...rather an act of someone who had no brains!!


dream wanderer

 

[RavenStar]

not racial prejudice by definitally religious prejudice.

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He who stands atop the highest mountain can see the farthest

 

[HeartlandGirl]

I haven't experienced prejudice, per se, but have had some pretty interesting race-related experiences that might provide some food for thought.

In the fourth grade, I attended school in a suburb of Detroit. There were these two bullies who picked on everyone, and they just happened to be African-American. If you tried to tell them to leave you alone, or if you said that you didn't like them, they cried "You're a racist! You're prejudiced!" None of us hated them because of their race, but rather because they were mean. But it taught me a valuable lesson about race relations in this country.

I've also had problems with the immigrants from Mexico in my hometown. I worked at a pizza place, and we frequently received phone calls for orders where if we couldn't speak Spanish, they yelled at us and got mad. The same thing happens to my mother who works at the post office. Because she doesn't speak Spanish, people yell at her. My husband does speak some Spanish and has often caught people talking about him in Spanish, never suspecting that he knows what they're saying.

Bottom line: race relations are tough no matter what color you are.

 

[theSoulfulMofo]

For me personally, I find it hard to love my country America, when I still see so much hatred, racism, and ignorance anywhere I go. I don't think any of these issues have receded in America, despite recent events.

GAO

[This message has been edited by theSoulfulMofo (edited 03-16-2002).]

 

[foray]

I'd like opinions on my situation in Malaysia.

My first real brush with racism was in school just before we were being streamed into the Science and Commerce sections, Science being the most prestigious. Only Straight A students ever go to Science, that was the prevailing attitude.

Then the teacher announced that for the Chinese and Indians (i.e non-Malays), students needed to score the maximum number of A's in order to get into the Science stream. Whereas Malay students, who are the 'native settlers', may be qualified if they had an 'A' or two less.

The Malays are given various priviledges such as these so that they, as a majority, may maintain power over the country.

Even though it is blatantly racist, the ends supposedly justifies the means, because this way, we prevent racial dissent like what happened in Indonesia (where the 'alien' Chinese are the richer citizens while the native Malays are left destitute so the Malays attacked the Chinese few years back).

So, what do you think? What is right in this case?

foray

 

[sulawesigirl4]

foray, I didn't know it was like that in Malaysia. It certainly has been in Indonesia. We had Chinese-Indonesian friends who all have specially designated passports, are NOT allowed to have schools that teach their children the Chinese language, and who are discriminated against in many other ways.

I think it's sick and wrong and quite frankly, a human rights violation. Something like that would never fly over here.

 

[LarryMullen's POPAngel]

Not personally, but I'm sorry for those of you who have.

 

[camiloj]

yes but I am sure it was somehow my fault...

 

[whammy]

Yes, I (a BLACK-AMERICAN) have experienced both prejudice and racism, in my life, and still do from time to time.

Prejudice is ignorance. Some people just don't know any better. If that's the way they were raised, then give them a chance to re-educate themselves.

Example: I was raised in a predominately black neighborhood until the age of 8. Then we moved to a predominately white neighbor. This is where my mother and little brother still live at today.

First day in new predominately white school. Teacher; "Andrew, what was the last school system you came from, because you speak very well."
I was 8. I didn't think any of that statement. I was grinning from ear to ear.

First day of indoctrination week at a predominately white private Catholic college, the University of Dayton.
Student teacher; "What part of Ohio are from again, because you are very articulate."

Now, ten years later, that statement bothers me. How was I supposed to sound? I guess she was expecting me to say, "Yo! What's up B!"

And now, at the age of 30, I look back at those moments and laugh. Neither one of those teachers meant anything harmful by what they were saying. The student teacher didn't realize what it sounded like coming from my perspective.

Racism is knowledgeable hate.
Example: I was out with my friends at a 4th of July Fair. I was 20 years old. Two of us were black and 12 others were white. To make a long story short, we got jumped at he end of the night.
I had a bat broken over my head, which split my skull. I was on the ground unconscious and they keep kicking me and beating me. It was a gang of 60 to 70, age 14-17, black kids( a couple of YO's--white kids who wanna be black). The police investigation and statements from the few that they caught said that I got the worst of it because, "That Nigg.. was a damn OREO."

I spent two weeks in the hospital. Re-constructive surgery and lots of stitches.


So, what have I tried to say here?

There is a definite difference between prejudice and racism. Prejudice might not necessarily be a negative thing just ignorance!


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GOD BLESS AMERICA!

P.S.-When I say "God Bless America", I mean just that,....."God Bless America."
Just like when I was kid and said it every morning.
There is no hidden, over-educated, or abstract meaning. Just "God Bless America."


[This message has been edited by whammy (edited 03-17-2002).]

 

[CannibalisticArtist]

me and my family have been subjected to racism and prejudice during the war, we were dragged out of our house and forced to leave for a while until we would either change our citizenship or leave. we had to rebuild the house after the war.

i think all humans are racist because it's primitive human nature, but saying that does not make it right, we should not feed on it, but try to supress it and become more civilised.

 

[cell]

Whammy, what you went thru was truly terrible, I am sorry to hear that. However, I believe that prejudice and racism are both equally bad. Just my opinion.

And to answer my own question: Yes, I have epxerienced racism, prejudice, however you want to put it. Twelve years ago, I was in Tennessee with a youth group helping underpriveleged kids. The way that I was stared at by the people there, was really strange and it made me very uncomfortable, as if asking themselves 'what the hell is she??' and our group was refused service at a restaurant because of some of our friends, how they looked, with dark skin(some of us were hispanic) and then later on during the week in New Mexico, some of the indians there asked me 'what tribe are you from??' and I would tell them that I am hispanic. They didn't even know what that was!lol...

And I was married to someone who is German-Irish for 7 years, who is 'racially-biased'
and he would always have something negative to say about how Mexicans are getting all the freebies, medicaid, shit like that... and how they never have to work for anything cuz they would all just sign up for welfare or unemployment. What he said all those years infuriated me. I didn't say much then, because I was blind, didn't think I had much of a say if I didnt know my politics. I wondered why he even married me at times knowing how he felt about hispanics, or other minorities, for that matter. Anyways, thats my two cents. needed to vent, thanks for reading.

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lilsparky: did you like the pics i took of my favorite band?
viktor: actually had a dream about larry mullen last night...not a gay dream but a weird dream.....
lilsparky: really?
lilsparky: what was it about?
viktor: yeah...we were going to a party and all my high school friends walked along him and then Bono rushed out and said something weird and that guy from the pouges...shane mac Gowan came and we all showered in sugar
viktor: weird

[This message has been edited by nellie (edited 03-18-2002).]

 

[U2Bama]

Yes. In 10th grade, in Birmingham, Alabama, an African-American student told me, to my face, "I hate white people." The following summer, in Gulf Shores, Alabama, a white kid (from Louisiana) called me "******."

~U2Alabama

[This message has been edited by U2Bama (edited 04-03-2002).]

 

[Achtung_Bebe]

I was taking an interest in a black guy who is in many of my classes, and he was taking an interest in me. He asked me out on a date, and I was pretty excited about it. He's a great guy, we get along. My parents objected, however: "don't sell yourself short" I believe were the words. I don't understand this kind of thinking... it makes no difference to me what the color of the skin may be.

 

[U2Bama]

Achtung_Bebe:

I hope you don't think that I think ill of Louisianans due to the racist kid from Louisiana whom I encountered.

~U2Alabama

 

[kobayashi]

my best friend is from sri lanka, has dark skin and i have seen him encounter numerous incidents.

sicy keeps on accusing me of being oriental

not to suggest that there is anything wrong with being oriental it's just i would prefer to be me, yaknow?