The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression
Prejudice has always been an issue that I have had a
problem with. I just can’t understand why people would want to teach this
negative behavior to their children and poison them with that nonsense. I am an
African and when I look back on the history of how my race has been treated
compared to other races its heart breaking. I remember when my aunt purchased
the restaurant that my grandmother worked in when they were children. The signs
above the doors that said blacks and whites only were still present. I just don’t
understand how one can feel that they are better than someone because of their
race, gender, or even economic status. I am a firm believer that we are all the
same and come from the same ancestors, no one man is better than the next.
A few years back I was on face book and came across a movie
clip that someone had share from a movie titled “Mr. and Mrs. Loving”. When I watched
the clip the movie and more the plot of the movie sparked my interest. So of
course me being the inquisitive person that I am I began to do my research on
the main characters on the movie, and found out that it was true story along
with a court case. To sum the movie up Mr. and Mrs. Loving met when they were
just teenagers. They quietly fell in love and when Mildred became pregnant at
the age of 18 they did what they thought was right and got married. However
they would soon find out that society felt otherwise. They were married during
a time when interracial marriages were looked down on, especially between
blacks and whites. On July 11, 1958 the young and very much in love couple were
married in Washing DC. They were not able to get married in Virginia due to the
Virginia's Racial Integrity Act of 1924 (known as an anti-miscegenation law)
after getting married they returned to their home in Caroline County, Virginia (https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/388/1).
It wasn’t long before their
martial bliss was covered by dark clouds October 1958, the Circuit Court [p3] of Caroline County,
a grand jury issued an indictment charging the Lovings with violating
Virginia's ban on interracial marriages. On January 6, 199, the Lovings pleaded
guilty to the charge, and were sentenced to one year in jail; however, the
trial judge suspended the sentence for a period of 25 years on the condition
that the Lovings leave the State and not return to Virginia together for 25
years. He stated in an opinion that:
Almighty God
created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on
separate continents. And, but for the interference with his arrangement, there
would be no cause for such marriage. The fact that he separated the races shows
that he did not intend for the races to mix (https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/388/1).
Everyone is entitled to their opinion
this true, but this has to be the most ignorant comment that I have ever heard,
coming from someone not only of the judicial system an educated professional that
is supposed to be in favor for liberty and justice for all. This was just the beginning
of their legal battle. It would not be to 1967 when the court would rule in
their favor. The laws that were in place in the earlier years when it came to
black and whites were just ignorant and unjustifiable. Love is a universal
culture and language. The fact that these two were not to be together diminished
equity to the fullest. We cannot help who we fall in love and should not be
punished for doing so. I could not imagine being married to a man and having to
move away from home town for the safety of our family. Then only visiting
family members by going back home separately that’s no way for anyone to have
to live. As you can see just from this case alone prejudice can be a very hurtful
thing. I have experienced it more than once as I have expressed in other assignments,
and I had never felt so hurt and helpless in my life. I remember when I was
younger my cousin had a Chinese girlfriend. My family was very accepting of her
and welcomed her every time she was in our presence. On the other hand her family
was not in favor of my cousin at all because he was African American. The fact
that he was a respect armed forces veteran and had numerous degrees didn’t mean
anything to them. Eventually they broke up, I always thought it was a shame how
their love couldn’t survive due to prejudices.
Since the Loving VS. Virginia case mostly all of the segregation
laws have been thrown out. However I feel that they were just rewritten in
another form because prejudice is still present today in our judicial system
and in our government. In order for us to continue to fight for equality for
all and we must first learn to think outside the box and not be set in our own
ways. Traveling is a good start because it helps to learn more about others and
their reasons for living a certain way and doing things. It also good to take
courses on diversity like this one to help you to see unknown biases that you
may have. Be clear when communicating with people. One idea that I like the
most is befriended someone of another race. Don’t be afraid to ask that coworker
of a different race to lunch, you might find out you’ll have more in common
than you think.
If you want to learn more about the Loving VS.
Virginia case you can easily google them or check out the movie titled “Loving”
Which came out on November 4 of this year.
(https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fen%2F3%2F34%2FMildred_Jeter_and_Richard_Loving.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FLoving_v._Virginia&docid=oNqdwAFTgeO8qM&tbnid=L8vMmJn5NL5PFM%3A&vet=1&w=648&h=434&bih=612&biw=1301&ved=0ahUKEwiWx_LY29jQAhXDbSYKHTSGAMEQMwgxKAAwAA&iact=mrc&uact=8)
References
I could not agree more that we are all equal regardless of our appearances. I think that each person is raised a certain way and regardless of beliefs of our parents, we need to make our own opinions and learn from others mistakes. My parents grew up in a very biased time period and place; their views on people of other races are not views that I share. Yet, they have adjusted with time. I did not agree with my father's opinions growing up, but I have to remember that he was taught racism as a child. He has come a long way and loves everyone today.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your experience. Yes, I absolutely agree that prejudice is very important issue that has been around for a long period of time. Prejudice as you mentioned which is something that is taught to children and I personally do not understand why it is being taught to children. As a mother, I do not teach my son anything negative towards hurting someone else feelings. As a mother, I teach my child how to share and care for one another. We as teachers in the early childhood field should stress the issue that prejudice is not nice to our friends and that it is important to treat everyone with respect.
ReplyDelete