The Personal side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

The personal side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression In my childhood memories, I remember a specific incident of when I was in High School. I think it was 9th grade. My best friend at the time and who I still know today, was a tall blonde girl named Lori. She was often made fun of and called names. Many times she would tell me how irritated she was that the Black Girls would call her Big Bird. One day she had enough of the discrimination and she got into a fight on campus with two black girls. They were all suspended and Lori was kicked out of school. I guess her attendance and the fight was too much to spare her place in our High School so she was sent to a continuation High School. The specific bias of name calling and the prejudice of being white, made the Black girls make fun of and ridicule my friend. Equity was diminished because my friend was in no position to feel a value of self-respect or high confidence. The girls left her watching her back, scared, and angry towards black people. This incident created me to feel hatred towards the girls who were bullying my friend. I could not even look at these girls. Also, I really wanted to get revenge on those girls. The girls eventually left my friend alone after the fight because they probably didn’t expect her to stand up for herself and fight back. The incident, although of the past, would have to become one of the girls giving compliments and becoming friends with Lori. The girls would have to have been totally different in their character and demeanor. Maybe, some anger management classes and positive reinforcing of their behavior would help in situations such as with fighting and discrimination.