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.
