Overall prejdice in our lives from then to now

[Bernice]

I guess most of us have said or done things in our childhood that in retrospect we wish we had not said or done.

Before my parents divorced, we had weekly maid service, provided by an individual of another race. Influenced by the TV and radio of the time, and attitudes I must surely have picked up from adults, at the tender age of 5 or 6, I offered this individual some paint, to use "if she ever wanted to be white". I don't remember it as having been intended to be insulting, but rather that I liked this person, and wanted her to have the option to avoid some of the difficulties minorities often faced at the time. Still, I wish I hadn't said it.

At age 9, I was very tall for my age, and very clumsy - a poor runner. At summer camp there were two very short and athletic young boys of African ancestry. Surely they must have faced discrimination, but our camp was supposedly fully integrated - if you count two out of perhaps a hundred as integrated. Anyway, these two boys seemed to need attention, and to prove themselves. They soon learned that they could sucker-punch me in the stomach, and quickly run 30-40 feet away, and taunt me to chase after them, with impunity. I soon learned that if I did chase after them, I could not catch them, and further, that I would be punished by the adults - who felt that I was exhibiting racial prejudice. It didn't matter "who started it". The adults would tell me that I was not ever to fight back, because these children were underprivileged. The irony is that this experience actually provoked racial tension, because at this point in my life, these were the first and only two of such race I remember having encountered on a daily basis, that were near my age. I grew to hate these boys and their cowardly aggression. It was difficult or impossible for me to not associate their skin color with their anti-social behavior.

I was about 14 when racial rioting completely destroyed an amusement park just four miles from home (the only such place in a fifty mile radius from home). I had only ever been there as a patron twice. I don't remember now whether that was part of, or preceded the riots which followed the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King.

It was about that same time when another boy of African ancestry who attended the same junior high school threatened to "cut out my gizzard", because he had allegedly been told that I had said something about his mother. I had not, but truth didn't matter at that age. Fighting was common, but in retrospect I think not necessarily racially motivated. I frequently lived in fear. I don't remember how I survived, but unfortunately the experience was a negative reinforcement to some pretty bad feelings.

The light-bulb finally came on for me when a classmate in college (who was coincidentally of African ancestry) proved to be the most outgoing, positive, and friendly person on the entire campus.

About 17 years ago, my employer at the time required all employees to attend a series of classes on diversity in general. They were reasonably well-done classes, and valuable. I think that I've come to believe that tolerance must be learned, or perhaps that prejudice must sometimes be un-learned.

[Dalindra]

Very good stories everyone

I started this thread with the intention of doing a series on all I have seen in my life in the way of prejudice but every time I sit down to write it I find the words just won't come.

I am not going to force it so I will just keep reading the stories of others till my heart and mind find it is time to continue.

[DonnaT]

I essentially grew up in two adjacent very small towns, H and P, in a narrow valley in WV. There was a creek that separated the two towns.

When we lived in H, the neighborhood included Blacks and Whites, and we all seemed to get along. I was quite young, 4-5 yrs old, so not really sure about the facts.

We moved to P when I was 6. We had lived there for a number of years before I realized the there were only White families in P.

And the town swimming pool was a private pool, and apparently the owners had a Whites only policy.

The grade school and Jr. High were integrated. I don't recall any issues of racial tension in school.

Our sports teams were integrated, and everyone seemed to get along fine, racially speaking. I was the fastest kid from both towns, and had both Black and White friends.

Of course, kids were kids, and not everyone got along. Most of my fights were with other White kids, and one with a Black kid. I never lost a fight, but that didn't stop some from trying me out.

I didn't hear of any racial tension until I neared high school age, and heard stories about the tension at the nearby high school. This was probably due to the times as well as the diverse backgrounds of the many towns that went to the same high school. Poor to rich, folks from the hills, from up the creek, along the rail-road and from the valley.

My parents decided to send us to Catholic High School, so I didn't have first hand knowledge of the racial tension until I changed schools my senior year, and went to the local high school.

I was new to the school, but was known, since had gone to grade school and Jr. high with many of the kids in High School.

The High School had a class scheduling system like you'd see in college, so at times there were a lot of kids with a lot of free time to hang out in the cafeteria or the halls. When the racial tension got too high, girls would ask me to escort them to their lockers.

Still hard to believe I didn't get into a single fight that year.

I joined the Army afterwards. There was racial tension the whole time I was in (73-79), but the worst was in 74. I was in one mini racial riot that year that occurred in the barracks. The ring leader punched me once, and I took him out while being clubbed. Seeing this, their group took off. Several ended up in the stockade.

Still, I held no ill will towards anyone because of their race, and when I became team leader of two signal radio trucks, everyone that wanted to be on my team was Black. We had the best team in Battalion.

[Lydia]

Back in the 40's and 50's, my college (where I taught for more years than I'd care to remember) was fairly integrated. Among the Biology majors, most students were Jewish and heading for medical school, but in those days most med schools had quotas: virtually no blacks, and a strict quota of Jews. One of my jobs was to advise and help students get into med schools. I well remember a phone conversation I had with a Dean of Admissions from a prominent New York med school. I had a particular student in mind. He was a truly brilliant scholar, who would clearly be an excellent, dedicated physician. The Dean was blandly sympathetic, but insisted that the quota for Jews was full.

I asked:"Why the quota? What is it about Jews that makes them undesirable medical students?"
Answer:"Well, they always end up at the top of the class."

How can you argue with logic like that?

Within a few years, fortunately, this quota system was broken down, but it took persistence from many colleges like mine.

Hugs,

Lydia

[Absaroka]

Lydia I can remember reading discussion of the quota system in regards to MIT where there was a quota on Asians in order to keep a number of slots open for White students.


I think that a lot of the stuff that leads to prejudice has to do with how are mind works. If I am walking down the street and a bunch of White teenage boys drive by and hurl insults, they are jerks. If a carload of Black teenage boys drive by and hurl insults they are proof that Black people are no good.

I feel this in reverse sometimes. I'll go to a Black church or a party where it's mostly Black people and be on my best behavior, as if I am a representative of all White people. My wife and I will joke about feeling like we have to be "a credit to our race" in these situations, to use an old and not all that nice phrase.

Zari

[DanteCarrie (FTM)]

erm prejudice lets see I'll admit I'm very prejudiced against religion.

I'm a hardline atheist. I believe the belief in god is mildly illogical but firm belief in god and people who are really religious and obey the ethics and rules of religious texts -I think they are religious out of brainwashing by family and culture or if they are born agains then they are deeply unhappy inside and need religion to be happy and are lacking goodness and pleasure in life which is very sad.
I think religion is a harmful and dangerous thing and yes as a sensitive, gothic, sexual, bisexual and androgynous person I fear them and with good reason. I do not deserve to be looked down on because they are illogical.
so there thats my prejudice.
Probably because i was raised by my mum who is...I want to say liberal christian but its funnier than that ..shes peoples warden at church and believes pretty much 0% of christianity. the closest thing she is to is an uber liberal budhist perhaps. my dad's atheist. I was raised to think all sexuality are normal and genders are pretty much the same except women don't have penises and men don't have breasts so encountering the goodytwoshoesness of christians in my village, manditory hymns and stuff in school and genuine religious prejudice in the world outside I was horified. I think it has gotten to the point where I've become maybe even an intolerant bigot I'm so scared of them if i heard someone was a christian I'd avoid them.

as for race i don't even see it i don't even believe in race we are all human and we all have slightly different skin pigments and my uncle (my mum's ex /i like him better than my dad) is black so grew up not seeing a divide.