What memory do I have of an incident when you experienced bias, prejudice, and/or oppression, or witnessed someone else as the target of bias, prejudice, and/or oppression?
I too grew up in a relatively poor neighborhood. I remember as a child we wore hand-me-down cloths, every one pick on me and my brothers and sister because our mother is handicap. I remember defending my mom and getting into fights because where I come from you don’t talk about someone’s mom, no matter what. My friends would also defend my mom because they loved her and she loved them. It didn’t matter that my mom was handicap because she treated all my friends like her own children.
It was hard at first but, as I got older it was easier to accept what other children said because she was and still is the best mom anyone could have for a parent.
In what way(s) did the specific bias, prejudice and/or oppression in that incident diminish equity?
Growing up was fun and as a child I did not know about biases and prejudice. As a teen I recall being picked on by people because I had a crazy eye or as they called me cock-eyed. The boys use to violate me by touching my body parts and because I was cute, (loll) and when I developed those parts I was unaware that they attracted boys. I spent a many of my days running home and crying until my told be to kick-their butts and I did just that. I started to fight them and the touching and feeling stopped. I had surgery to correct my eyes and the teasing and name calling went away. This was one of the most humiliating times of my life.
The feelings this incident brought up for me were that I was being abused and I wanted to fight back, and it wasn’t until my mom gave me the ok to fight that I felt in control. It may have not been the best way to handle the situation, but it worked.
It took me reacting to the situation in order to change this incident into an opportunity for greater equity. I was losing the battle until I was giving the go ahead to defend myself. When my mom said that fighting back would stop the boys from violating me I did just that.
My mother is handicap also. She has cerebral palsy and has not let it stop her from accomplishing her goals. My sisters and I also found ourselves defending her against those who did not know her personally. Our friends loved her and quickly forgot that she was handicap. As a child and now as an adult I cannot stand for people to talk about those who are handicap or even joke or call others names. My children have been raised to respect the handicap and I remind them to think about how they would feel if that was them or if it was someone talking about their grandma. I have great respect for the handicap and I am often amazed at their capabilities and determination.
ReplyDeleteThanks April
ReplyDeleteI often wonder who share some of the things we face in life. My children also respect the handicap. O remember them asking me w
"what's wrong with grandma as children, although they did not understand as children, they know now and they are always willing to hel my mom with stuff and she tells them don't help unless she ask for help. Andyou know how people are when they grow older. My worst fear is when she can no longe live by herself-what am I going to do.
Leslie,
ReplyDeleteGood for you and your friends for standing up for your mother. I don’t like when people make fun of the handicapped/disabled. My sister is disabled and when we go out in public, she feels like everyone is looking at her, especially children. I wish parents would educate their children about the special needs population. I worked with the various classifications of special needs students; I use to tell my students to be proud of whom they are. The regular education teachers use to send their students who got in trouble to my class as “punishment” for not listening. Well, to their surprised as well as the students, they were getting educated on what it was like to have a disability. The regular students actually enjoyed interacting with the special students. They read to them, played various games with them and just talked to them. And the smile on both faces was priceless.