Today, while I was out running errands I had an experience
that I could relate to the readings for this week. I think without having begun
this class, I wouldn’t have otherwise noticed or been as aware of it as I was.
I’m glad that I was aware of this and what was happening around me. I think for
anything to change, whether it is in regards to racism, education or anything
else, people need to first be aware of the situation and the problem in order
to fix it. It seems that many of the situations in the readings resonate true.
While I was walking
through a store, I noticed a mother and daughter speaking to one another and
they were speaking Spanish. Other people were walking by and someone rudely
(and loudly) commented, “this is America, speak English!” I couldn’t help put
shoot a dirty look that person’s way. I cringe when I hear people say this
phrase and unfortunately I feel like I hear it often. I immediately related to
the “White Privilege Backpack” article by McIntosh. How awful must it be to
have something like that said to you? This woman and her daughter weren’t doing
anything wrong; they were simply walking through a store speaking a language
other than English. It was like this person was on display and she could have
been saving puppies, but because she was speaking Spanish instead of English it
was all wrong. I don’t get ridiculed by others when I’m speaking English. People
speaking Spanish don’t come around me and say, “this is America, speak Spanish!”
I also related this to the work done by Omni and Winnat. Because of the mother
and daughter’s race, they are being discriminated against. Simply because they
are a different color and spoke a different language all of a sudden it put
them in a lower class and not worthy of common respect and dignity, according
to the person in the store. I am willing to bet that if I, a white person, were
speaking Spanish I would not have been ridiculed like these women were.
What gives these people the right to say such rude, hurtful
things and more importantly why do they feel this way to begin with? Who cares
if they’re speaking Spanish or their own made up language? I genuinely felt so
sorry for these people. They did not deserve such harsh, unfair treatment but
sadly I’m sure they’ve heard it before. It did not even seem to faze them that
it was said.
This situation reminded me of a story I remembered hearing on the news awhile back. See the link below for the story:
