WARNING: This is a long post. For those of you who only skim through posts, please note that I am not racist. I just noticed something about myself, I am becoming racially prejudiced. We are all prejudice about something, and mine is race.I wish I wasn't this way. It all has to do with school. My major is in a male dominated field, and the higher I get in my courses I notice less and less minorities or females. Classes are becoming more and more like an "old boys network" of sorts and its really frustrating.In one of my classes our grades are posted by our id number on the wall. The class is kinda big, so I slid my finger down the list to find my id number and see my grade in the class. This white guy was standing next to me. I stopped at my number, and the grade next to it was a 92%. He asked if that was my grade, as if I wasn't at all capable of getting a good grade. I told him yes, and he asked me how did I cheat. WTF?I had a 15 page paper due right before spring break in another class. We got our papers back today, and I got 97%(the highest grade in the class). The white boy who sits behind me asked me to see my paper. He skimmed through it, passed it to a couple of his buddies, and began to snicker. The boy handed me my paper back and said, "you know you can write really well" On the surface it was a compliment, but his undertone was that he didn't expect me to write well.I was in the parking garage yesterday and out of nowhere this car hits my passenger side door. Some white guy pulled out of a parking spot, wasn't paying attention, and crashed right into me.(btw, how do you PULL out and hit somebody? I could understand if he was backing out but....) He says "oh shit im sorry" gets back into his car writes down his name and address and tries to pull off. I have him blocked in and he gets angry because he "has to be at fucking work in 30 mins". I call campus police so they can make a report of the accident. The guys friend, who was passing by, stopped to talk to him. I heard them talking about how because I am black, I am going to fake injuries so I can scam his insurance company. He had a newer car, and he told his friend that the cost of the damage is more than my car is worth. (thats not true, but I let them talk) So the police get there (two white men btw) and they immediately ask me for proof of insurance. WTF he is the one who was wrong, but whatever, I give them my insurance card. The officers and the boys chit chat about baseball for a few minutes and then let us all go. No ticket for the boy, nothing. How do I overcome this? I know not all white people are 'bad', but all the ones I come across seem to be. It doesn't help that I stay in one of the most racially segregated cities in the U.S...........the stereotypes self -perpetuate.
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I am becoming prejudice
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I have no comment, except that you don't get tickets for parking lot fender-benders. Seems like you were expecting one.
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I was expecting something, anything except passive chit chat and disregard for the fact that he was wrong, and the damage to my car. It was not a fender-bender. He pulled out of that spot like he was drag racing, with no exercise of caution. But I guess thats irrevalent.You could have said nothing, if you had no comment.
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Well, I just commented that you expected a ticket but you don't get one for that. You get a police report and go to your insurance. As far ahow they are treating you, well... it's not fair, but what can you do about it except take the higher ground?
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I agree, but it is starting to affect me in other ways. I'm tired of biting my lip, taking the high road. Its almost like I try to avoid interaction with white males whenever possible. I dont want to be this way, but it really hurt my feelings to hear them say stuff like that.....but hey, I guess thats life.
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He wasn't even the least bid concerned about the damage to either of our cars, or how much his insurance would increase when I file a claim. My car may be an old piece of shit to him, but mommy and daddy didn't buy it for me. I worked my ass off for everything I have.
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no offense.. but the same things happen to white people as well. Maybe you don't see it but it definetly happens
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What major are you in?True, not all white people are "bad" (as you put it) but you can conversely say not all white people are "good" either, and that applies to everyone (all races). I go by the idea of "guilty until proven innocent" about people and their prejudices because everyone has them. And as much as people think they're "color blind" its not the case. You can't expect people to not discriminate by race because lots of people do, even if its not a conscious decision. And pink ranger, yes all races are and have been discriminated against in some way. The frequency and intensity of discrimination against minorities is so much more compared to against whites.
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I am so sorry that you have to deal with crap like that ME_MYSELF_AND_I. I say start standing up for yourself, instead of standing back and allowing these ignorant, self centered, morons talk down to you, you don't deserve any of that. You seem like a very intelligent woman, and you shouldn't have to put up with their shit.
In reply to:
This white guy was standing next to me. I stopped at my number, and the grade next to it was a 92%. He asked if that was my grade, as if I wasn't at all capable of getting a good grade. I told him yes, and he asked me how did I cheat. WTF?
Tell him he'd get better grades if he'd get off his ass and actually study instead of hanging out with his frat buddies drinking.
Again, I'm sorry you have to deal with this.
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I continually discriminate against the stupid and the lazy. I have no shame in it.
Racially, I'd like to think we've moved further beyond the kind of shit you're living through, here in Canada. But we have our problems.
Maybe it's just the way I was rased but I simply don't understand using race, sex, religion etc as the single defining attribute of a human. They represent only 3 of hundreds.
I'll make you a deal; don't lump me in with those white frat boys and I won't lump you in with that black kid that beat me up when I was 10, k?
Hang in there and don't become what you hate.
Saints and shitheads come in all flavours. -
Based on your avatar, I thought you were a blonde, blue-eyed female...which is not to say that I'm some kind of a fruit. It makes me think about looking at help-wanted ads in French publications, where companies advertised specifically for young female secretaries, and you were expected to provide your marital status and a photo when you applied even for a managerial position. American companies over there did that. At lest in the U.S. that kind of crap is now illegal.I've mostly worked for smaller companies, and I'd like to think that we hired the most meritorious people, since the companies' continued existence depended on it. But job interviews are subjective.Prejudice will not disappear in our lifetime. Don't let the bastards grind you down.
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Please don't avoid interacting with white guys. Sure, you'll avoid the pricks. But you'll also miss out on the good guys. The ones that will sort of balance things out for you. If I had avoided black guys in college, I would have avoided the pricks who made fun of my cause I wasn't wearing the right kind of tennis shoes, but I also would have missed the really cool guy who helped me chuckle my whay through my first year of college.
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Thanks a lot guys(and girls ). I guess I just needed to hear(or read) what I already knew.....assholes come in all races, I just happen to keep running into the white ones. I will try not to let the few jerks ruin my perception of the rest of the race.
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In reply to: What major are you in? Political science major with a minor in law and social thought.
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*sending hug (if you dont mind some big old white arms :smile: )*
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gladly accepts hug
