Courses
Autobiography Racial and Ethnical Prejudice
Both of my parents are white. My brother, who is four years younger than me and I, grew up in Virginia in a neighborhood where majority were white. It was however common to spot people from different racial or ethnical backgrounds in the neighborhood for instance African Americans and Asians Americans. My preschool and elementary school years, majority of my classmates and close friends were white. In those years, I had developed a negative perception about the African Americans from the experiences I had and from the history I read especially in regard to the life of African Americans in the United States.
My father worked in an insurance company. In my occasional visits in this company, I realized two persons who worked as cleaners were Black American. Being in a particular uniform always, unlike other workers like my father, it was obvious that I would recognize the difference. In my mind, every black person I met looked like a cleaner. However, this perception changed slightly as I grew up and continued to meet more and more African Americans in other working capacities other than cleaners. However, as we continued to interact with friends and classmates in the preschool and in the elementary level, it was obvious that children of the whites considered themselves as superior as and more intelligent than people of other racial/ethnic backgrounds and especially to the African Americans. African American children were not readily accepted by their white colleagues and were always looked with some kind of skepticism.
The negative perception about the African Americans in me was developed further as I read history books about the slavery and the struggle for civil rights by African American in the 1960s. Other historical experiences and perception of people in earlier times demonstrated that African Americans had been perceived to be inferior to the whites and people from other ethnic backgrounds. As a result, African Americans have had a horrible history characterized by widespread prejudice and discrimination by their white counterparts. Pearson (2014) indicates, “Prejudice is negative attitude towards the entire category people”. As I learned of the history of the Eugenic movements and the stereotype perceptions about the inferiority and feeble-mindedness on the black people, the negative perception about African Americans was somewhat elevated. For instance, comparatively, families of the whites who lived in the neighborhood seemed better well-up financially to those of the African Americans or people from other ethnic backgrounds. In fact, it was common to see people from a particular ethnicity segregate themselves from other in schools, churches an even in leisure places.
It was notable that the skin color was the most determining factor as far as negative perception and prejudice against children of minority groups was concerned. One of my friends, whose parents were mixed, (Latin American father and Black American mother) was light in colour. Due to the fair skin colour, this child was not treated same as other black skinned children. In one instance, an African American boy reported of being constantly molested by his classmates who were white to a point where he ran away from home. Majority of the movies we watched and some television programs clearly depicted African American as being inferior to the whites. In fact, it was common to watch programs whose themes classified African Americans as very poor people who would be associated with drug addiction, murder and brutal people whose contribution to the society is mostly negative. According to Jackman (1977), the beliefs, cultures and behaviors of a particular community determine the extent to which one ethnic group shows prejudice or tolerance to another group.
My first experience with an African American is during by final years in the elementary school. A family of an African origin migrated to our neighborhood where one of the boys (Joshua) was register in the same school with me and became my classmate. I believe that Joshua played a major role to inspire me and encourage me in my future education. Academically, he was sharp and articulate in character. He emerged the best performer in the final examination. We developed a good rapport with him and between the families. His father became instrumental in guiding me in the course I am taking in the undergraduate level. The experience I have acquired with African Americans has changed my perception not only of the people of African origin but also for people from other racial and ethnic backgrounds.
Over the years I have come to interact more closely with people of different racial and ethnic backgrounds. The stereotype perception that was instilled in me in the previous experiences has completely changed. I now perceive people from different racial background as being equal in intelligence and ability where same opportunities are presented. In my undergraduate course, I have realized that people from all racial and ethic backgrounds are equal and have the abilities to develop and contribute to development with equal measure. In the school, people from all ethnic backgrounds are taking courses depending on ones abilities, and preferences. Every person has the opportunity to become a great scientist, doctor, professor or even manager. For the first time, the current president of the United States of America bears some African racial backgrounds. In his leadership, President Barack Obama has demonstrated that he can be an effective manager who is comparable or has even surpassed the performance of some of the white presidents in the history of the United States. According to Ta-Nehisi (2012), in President Obama’s administration, ethnic diversity has improved significantly and this had contributed to less internal conflict. This is a clear indication that, prejudice and negative perception shown to African Americans and people of other ethnic backgrounds is misguided.
In the present, I have come to admire the interracial relationships that are coming up. I feel good when I see couples from different ethic backgrounds holding hand without thinking what other people would think about them. I enjoy the company of people from all racial background and I have realized that the different culture from different people intrigue me. There is always something spectacular about people from other cultures that is not there in my culture. I love studying about other people across the world. I believe that, I can mingle effectively and work with people from all over the world. I feel bad when I observe people from a particular ethnic background being mistreated just because they belong to that ethnic background. I recent times, after the September 2009 attack in the United States, racial profiling has become rampant. For instance, members of the Muslim community are generally perceived as being terrorists. I believe that the skin colour does not define in any way, the abilities of a particular person. In every race, there are spectacular people whose character is admirable and also there are people whose character is horrible in every race. I have made friends from all over the world and I admire the diversity they bring in my life. In fact, I can help to think how the world would be if it contained people from just one racial background.
References
Jackman, M (1977). Attitudes Towards ethnic groups. University of Michigan Pp. 167 http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/22909/0000474.pdf?sequence=1
Pearson Group (2014) Racial and ethnic groups. Chapter 1 & 2. Chegg.com
Ta- Nehisi, C., (2012). Fear of a Black President. The Atlantic. Aug 22 2012, retrieved from www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/09/fear-of-a-black-president/309064/
