When I young, I grew up open minded, and I was told that God loved everybody no matter what skin color we were. At my last school I had friends of different races and got along with them fine. But then my family moved to another town and I had to change schools. The first day of my new school, I saw that I was the only black person in the room which it never bothered me. I think it bother the ones who were already there. Once I sat down in the very back these three white girls were staring at me and some was really angry to see me become a part of their world. ''Just what we need is another black girl in our school, said one girl!” The girls did not even know me and they were calling me racist. She than kept asking me things like'' How many black kids were in your school. I was so shocked that I did not know what to say! All I said that I was not racist and that to me everybody was the same in God's eyes. I felt like Ruby Bridges; being the only black girl in the class.
One day one girl felt sorry for me and began talking to me and she even risked her life by becoming friends with me. I must say that these girls were evil and cruel. I thought the only way to make these girls back off of me was for me to stand up to them and let them know that we are all the same, regardless of our skin color. The story goes way beyond this but I just want to share this part with you because even though what the girls did to me and all the name calling, I have forgiven them all because that is the Godly thing to do.
I imagine that you still feel some hurt today when you think about this. As Dr. Sue stated in the video this week about social pyschological factors associated with microaggressions is inherited racial biases. I think this was taking place with many of the students that did not want you in the class because you were black. And, as he stated in the video you experience microassault by the comments that the students made toward you. Good example!
ReplyDeleteHi Tracey,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing such a personal experience. I can remember being in grade school, it was difficult enough with just regular "kid crises" as I like to call them, but to add racism into the mix just complicates things even more so. Having learned about microaggressions and how they effect people this week, I certainly think that this is a component that local anti-bullying programs should incorporate! Thanks again!
Hey Tracey,
DeleteI am so grateful to you for sharing your tough experience. I know it can not be easy to talk about something like that. I do believe that we (as outsiders) can learn from your experience, and from all the experiences that we have learned about this week. I know that I am much more aware of microaggressions happening all around us. I witnessed one just this week myself that I talked about on my blog. Thank you for your candid response to this prompt as I know I can learn from what happened to you. Thanks so much! :)