Thursday 13 March 2014

We Don't Talk To Your Kind


The first time I experienced discrimination was when I was in grade two.

I was in a grade 2/3 split class.

I made friends with a boy in the class; we'll call him Kevin. His sister was also in the class; we'll call her Lisa.

Kevin and I used to make jokes in class together and do whatever it is kids in grade two do. Then one day, Kevin stopped talking to me. I didn't know why, so I asked him.

"My sister," he said. "My sister told me I can't talk to you anymore."

"Why?" I asked.

"We don't talk to your kind..." he replied.

My kind? What did that mean?

I ran home and asked my mom. She told me that was nonsense and I was to march into class tomorrow and talk to Kevin anyway. (In hindsight, I don't know why she didn't just tell me to speak to the teacher, but anyway.)

The next day, I went up to Kevin and was immediately stopped by Lisa.

"You will not talk to my brother, do you understand? If you do, you'll regret it, whitey."

Whitey?

I was scared. I looked around the classroom to see everyone staring at me (maybe my mom didn't tell me to go to my teacher because my teacher was never there. Seriously, where was my teacher when this happened?).

After that, no one in the class spoke to me. I was quickly outcast by my peers, regardless of their colour.

I learned very young that discrimination can happen to anyone. As I got older, I learned that racism affects religions and cultures, not just skin colour.

Maturity taught me that a persons skin colour, race, culture and religion are not things to define them by. We may not be the same skin colour, we may not be the same race, our cultures may be different and we may have different views on religion, but that doesn't give us a reason to not give each other a chance.

"What you allow is what will continue.  It’s always better to spend more time alone than allow negative people and their opinions to derail you from your destiny."

Moving on, I tried to ignore negativity and bullies. In grade 2/3, I'm sure Linda was too young to understand what she was saying. As I got older and continued to experience discrimination on other aspects of myself,  I walked away. Sometimes that's all you can do when someone projects their insecurities onto you.

Have you ever been discriminated against?

20 comments:

  1. That is awful!! I can't believe it happened so young too. I have never been discriminated against but I have definitely seen it happen to others I have been close to and it's so wrong.

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  2. It's crazy how young it can start! It obviously goes to show how important the "nurture" aspect of nature vs nurture is in bringing up children to be considerate global citizens

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  3. ugh, racist people are awful and just plain ignorant. i've only experienced that once in middle school; i was in grade 7 and this grade 8 biatch called me a 'chink' and then she giggled with her friends so i walked right up to her *pissed as hell* because WHO IS SHE and said right in her face "WHAT DID YOU SAY?!". i guess the crazed angry look in my eye scared her and she backed off and stammered something incoherent and she never bothered me again. maybe she thought i was going to go all ninja on her ass and i would have because i was so mad that someone would even say shit like that.

    -kathy | Vodka and Soda

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  4. This makes me so sad for you. :( What upsets me the most is that if she said that at such a young age, it's because she heard adults around her doing the same thing. I hate it that our parents are so quick to defend our grandparents by saying "Well, it's just that generation." NO, that's not an excuse. And when you defend them, you pave the way for your children to act the same way. My cousin (he's 8) is unfortunately the most racist child I've ever met and I know for a fact it's because of my aunt and uncle. When it's just me and him I try to be as much of a positive influence as I can.

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  5. oh that is so sad, it's crazy that it's instilled at such a young age. i hope things will change for our future!

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  6. That's a horrible thing to experience as a child but it sounds like you learned a good lesson. I'm sure Lisa would apologize to you today for how she made you feel. Let's hope at least.

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  7. as sucky as that experience was at least it opened your eyes now to how not to treat people?!

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  8. It is so sad that times haven't changed! The fact that there is still racism in 2014 is sicking. I would hope that if you bumped into "Lisa" today she has grown and would apologize to you. We have to live a life we are proud of and ignore others that don't follow in our happiness path.

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  9. I can't believe that happened to you so young! I remember asking my mom what the difference was between me, white girls, black girls and sincerely asking... "why does it matter?" I'll never forget that conversation even though I was really young. I'm sorry that happened to you as a kid though it seems like you handled it very well; at least now as adults we know better how to handle such ridiculousness.

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  10. How sad!! But we all know these things happen far too often, and that's heartbreaking. Our world has a long way to go when it comes to loving others.

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  11. It's so incredibly devastating that something like this STILL goes on today. Although your situation was a lot worse, when I was in college, another student and I were talking and she assumed that I had it easy financially just because I was white...ummm no that couldn't have been further from the truth. My parents believed that if I wanted to go to a super pricey college, I'd have to pay for it myself, sooo that meant being knee-deep in debt with student loans. It was SO amazingly annoying that this girl just decided to judge me just because I was white when I made no other implication that my parents were flipping for the tab. Sigh...

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  12. You are so right... this is something that can happen to anyone/everyone. It's disgusting. I just don't get why people think they ever have a right to treat anyone else like shit.

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  13. Wow that's horrible! But cheers to you being an open minded, non-judgemental person. We need more people like you in today's world.

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  14. The thing about kids (since I talk to like 30 on a daily basis) that doesn't just naturally come to them....it is a learned behavior....where are they learning it from? Their parents...it's awful but they are little sponges and they pick up things that are in everyday conversations so the real problem is the adults....this story is awful sorry girl!

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  15. That is all kinds of crazy and horrible. It is so true that this can happen to anyone, anywhere. I wish we lived in a world where this truly didn't exist.

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  16. Aww.. The whole time I just imagined you but in grade 2.. looking all confused and hurt. Awwwww. That is really crazy, but yes.. sadly it happens all the time and to kids at such a young age. That moment in life when you realize that the world can be an ugly place..!

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  17. What makes me so sad about this story is that at that age, they were obviously mimicking what they saw and heard at home. Which means that their family not only had racist feelings (and I get that more people do than I'd like to think), but that they felt the need to reinforce them with their kids. Sometimes I wish people had to get a license before they can reproduce, one that at least keeps the bigots from reproducing.

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  18. oh I've definitely dealt with things like this, moreso as a kid (because seriously, kids are the meanest!) I just ignored it when I was a kid but as I've gotten older whenever I've faced something like this I usually tell the person off. It's crazy how closed-mined some people can be!

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  19. Wow. This is powerful and beautiful. Thank you for sharing.

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  20. That's terrible, I can't believe that happened to you

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