Week 3: Prejudice and Discrimination

As a white male, I don't experience discrimination or prejudice personally very often, if ever. However, I have seen how it affects people firsthand. When my parents adopted my brothers, they brought them into a small town with very little diversity. Throughout elementary they were the only black people in their grade and at one point they were the only black people in the school. Small, country towns have a reputation for being ignorant and racist. Ours was no exception. There was one student in particular that made a point of antagonizing them everyday on the bus. It got so bad that our parents wouldn't let us ride the bus anymore and our mom drove us to school and picked us up everyday.  The comments really bothered me but I can't imagine how they made my brothers feel. They were able to make friends and as they got older they were more accepted and more black families began moving into the district. Now that I've graduated and gone to college, I don't see the prejudice they experience. However they will have to deal with it the rest of their lives.

Immigrants face prejudice every day of their lives. The last several years have brought a very negative view of immigrants. The problems with the economy have only worsened this issue, especially towards Hispanic immigrants. It is automatically assumed that they are illegal immigrants, even if they are U.S. citizens, they are viewed negatively by the general population.  As an immigrant from Senegal, Mouhamahou experiences prejudice against immigrants and black people. Especially as a young child, prejudice can be very damaging to self-esteem and image. It affects how they in turn view everyone else and causes trust issues. I haven't had the chance to talk to Mouhamadou about any of these things but unfortunately I don't think he's an exception and has probably experienced prejudice since coming to the United States.