Sunday, October 14, 2012

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression


The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

 

This incident happened to me on Friday, October 12, 2012.  I was at the laundry mat washing clothes when a Caucasian lady came in and was about to add her laundry into the wash and was putting the detergent in wrong.  I said, “Excuse me ma’am but the Tide Pod goes in the drum of the washer and its best to put your detergent in after the water start going into the wash.  She gave me a look like did I ask you for your help. She had a snobby attitude.  As she begin to start another load of clothes she did it the way I had told her previously.  She kept looking at me funny the whole time she was there and she must have realize that I was only trying to help her.  Later, before I left she asked which dryer gets hot.  I told her 1, 2, 3, 4, and 8.  She then told me thank you and walked away.  She seem as though she didn’t like Black people but she must have realized that Blacks are not so bad after all.

 It seems as though the lady was a racist toward Blacks, however she made me felt that she didn’t need my help.  However, the incident changed the way she thought of me and she told me thank you for helping me. 

2 comments:

  1. Thank you Lakeshia,
    I know that they are jealous and racist in a way. You can feel it when you walk into a room and certain people are in there. I will not let them get to me,in fact the situation has been resolve.

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  2. Lakeshia,

    It is disappointing to me that you experienced such bias in this day and age. Some people take help as criticism of the way they are doing something. They do not take help, even when offered in friendship, as a positive. It may have been the first time that this person had ever had to come to a laundromat. Just being there might have been awkward for her. Thank you for being the better person. Sometimes the way in which we act can change attitudes about a whole group of people.

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