Week 3 : Sarah Arriola

I felt like this sign was hanging in that grocery store.

       Although I have not been discriminated against often in my life, I can unfortunately say that there have been a few times in my life that I felt as though I was discriminated against. The first isn't a specific time in my life, but more of an overall thing that I have dealt with throughout my life. I am about 1/8th Hispanic. I don't really look it, especially compared to my father and brother, but people do find out that I am part Hispanic. I am not ashamed of this, but sometimes it was hurtful when in school kids would make fun of me, calling me such names as "bean," or "Mexican." The older I've gotten the less other people's comments bother me. 

       Another time in my life when I have felt discriminated against was my junior year of high school when I was not hired by a grocery store in my hometown. I was told that there were no open positions, but three days later I found out that they had hired two guys after they had told me that. Guys are stereotypically stronger, so I guess they didn't think I'd be capable of pushing carts and stocking shelves. Personally, I find this offensive, and wish they would have been honest with me and said that they only had "heavy lifting" positions open, rather than saying that there were no open positions.

Hwah's parents were born in Africa and she's spent much of her life there.

       I feel as though these examples of discrimination probably don't even compare to the ways that my mentee, Hwah, has possibly been discriminated in her life. She, although born here, has spent several years of her life in Africa with her African-born parents. She speaks English and French. She lives only with her mother, because unfortunately, her father is still in Africa. I don't know for sure if she experiences discrimination in her day-to-day life, because that was not something she and I got a chance to talk about in our first meeting together. She is a fun-loving, dynamic 10-year-old and I hate to think of the idea that people would discriminate against her or her family. Sadly, that's probably not the case. 

       Because I was born in the U.S. to parents that are also U.S.-born, I feel as though that automatically gives me privileges that Hwah may never have. Simply because she has parents that were born in a different country and don't speak much English, she will probably be discriminated against, which is an issue that I will never have to deal with.