When I was in high school I began
early on trying to devise a list of colleges and universities that I would be
interesting in. I was very lucky to have a counselor and many mentors through
tout the school to help me gather
information and other information that not only would be helpful to me but also
my mother. One day my aunt took me up to visit and tour a predominately White
school and immediately I felt out of place. I was aware in the beginning what
kind of school it was but when we arrived on the campus I did not get a rush of
warmness from the students or staff. After touring for quite some time they
allowed us to have lunch in their dining hall and I can remember my aunt and me
hearing snickers as we walked across the dining hall to our table. There was
this petite Asian girl and white girl who looked over at me and yelled so
everyone could hear them, “What ya’ll doing here, this is not the ghetto”! I
was furious and became enraged because the girls did not know me and opted not
to get to know me. I was quite shocked at the response the guide and teachers
gave, because they did not make known of what the girls had done and addressed
the situation properly.
I do not know the thought process
of the adults at that time, but I felt as if they made me an outcast and a
spectacle for the rest of the group. I
felt again like I did with the little girl that day and the day at the store
with my mom and sisters. I knew in my heart and my aunt knew from my facial
expressions that I was about to explode, and I did. I told those girls and the
tour guide and teachers off being as
nasty nice as I could and even though I did not have to fight fire with fire, I
had had enough with the remarks, the jokes, and even laughs at my expense. I believe the if the teachers and tour guide
would have addressed the girls and had shown me some compassion then I would
have felt as if that school could have been my home and just because I had had
that incident happen to me, that I would have met some interesting and cool
people of all diverse communities and built strong lasting friendships with
them all.
Sha'Keema,
ReplyDeleteWhat a powerful story, thank you for sharing it with us. That school was not safe. The adults did not seem to know how to protect you. The adults were not there for you.
Isn't it sad that we all have stories to tell?
Perhaps there will come a day when there will be no such stories to tell.
Sha'Keema,
ReplyDeletethis was aggressive behavior, the inaction of the adults seemed to be a passive agressive. It is examples like this that magnifies the microaggression because as you said you had had it. Thank you for sharing this story and it sounds like it is the schools loss!
Sha'Keema,
ReplyDeletewhat a story, that is an experience I would never want to go through. As soon as you said it, I was ready to fit, I was screaming at my screen like it had just happened to me. I hope you never went to that school, when I was finished with them, I would have my experience on the News Stations, News papers and I would have attempted to right a book. And to think that the Asian girl joined in this, white people are sometime prejudice to them as well. WLW, that is all I can say.
Sha'Keema,
ReplyDeleteI truly believe that many colleges/universities use many biases. This does not sound like a comfortable environment for others to be in. It is upsetting to know this happened to you while you were there visiting. I am glad you were able to witness this on a visit and not on your first day attending.
Wow, that is sad that people would be so ignorant especially on a college campus. A place that I would expect more acceptance and intelligence. I think it goes back to if people have not been exposed to other cultures then they are ignorant and may not be willing to make others welcomed. I'm sorry that you had to experience this.
ReplyDelete