Discrimination Still Exists?

Discrimination because of race is still so common even though there are laws against it.  However, there are other types of discrimination based on race even though they aren’t the stereotypical types.  For example, discrimination exists in the market for scholarships.  I don’t mean to sound negative or like I’m being racist and superior because I’m not, but whites are discriminated against.  When taking the SAT or PSAT you can check off a box about your race and whether or not you’d like to be considered for a scholarship specifically for black people.  There are scholarships for Hispanics, Latinos, and Asians.  But there aren’t any white-only scholarships like there are for minorities.  It’s wrong to have scholarships that exclude minorities but it’s okay to have scholarships that exclude the majority?  I feel discriminated against for being white.  Just because my ancestors where scumbags, doesn’t mean I am.  We should be past this by now.  I don’t treat people badly for being different than myself.  And although this post begs otherwise, that’s not the case.  My point is, discrimination exists in new forms.  In the fight to destroy discrimination against those shunned in the past, we are discriminating against a new group: the majority.  Just because I’m in the majority, it doesn’t mean I should be precluded from scholarship opportunities.  By encouraging these race-based scholarships, we just facilitate humanity’s division and continue the cycle.  Except now, it’s not because we believe other races are inferior; it’s because they get an advantage for being a minority.  I’m aware that my race makes me different from others even though that’s not something we should be focusing on.  I’m not hating on those who are different from me.  I just believe that these minority categories make it difficult to have equality.  By now, we should understand how detrimental discrimination is and work towards equality.  But government sanctioned actions such as the separation of scholarships and who deserves money based on race is absurd.  Minorities shouldn’t exist anymore.  We can’t just focus on gender equality and closet our race issues like we’re past them because we’re not.  I thought we were beyond that as a nation.

Fortunately, I don’t receive much discrimination for being white or female or part of the middle class.  Except that one comment about my boobs which I discussed in a previous post.  But I am discriminated against for being smart.  At least I was before college.  My classmates called me “the dumbest smart person I ever met” because I wasn’t in on social news or sports.  And I lacked some common sense and social skills because no one would talk to me.  How was I supposed to know anything if no one interacted with me?  I just tried to ignore it and hoped that college would be a better experience, and it has.  I know my brains will take me further than theirs in life.  My knowledge of discrimination and bias has helped me handle situations more maturely, and I make better decisions about what’s worth fighting about and what isn’t.  My experiences shaped me into who I am.

Domestic violen…

Aside

Domestic violence is an issue that many women today face. A quarter of all women have experienced some form of domestic violence in their lifetime. We know that it’s still prevalent today especially because everything is so publicized, especially the relationship between Chris Brown and Rihanna.  I don’t think it’s more of an issue now than in the past. It’s hard to explain. I feel like it definitely occurred in the past to a great extent, at least as much today if not more, but everyone was hush hush about what goes on inside the family, so it was never made out to be an issue. Contrarily, today, everything is thrown through the media and people are forced to confront the fact that there’s an issue. And today, many people are supporting victims and helping them to leave and take care of themselves, proving that they are more than just victims – they’re SURVIVORS. There’s most definitely a global reach with domestic violence. It cuts across all religions, races, ethnicities, social classes, genders, and sexual orientations.  It’s a cliche, but it can happen to anyone.  Although it occurs everywhere, I do feel like it occurs in some places more than others. Such as in the Middle East where the culture forces the women to live under very strict rules and conditions such as covering oneself completely in the presence of people other than her husband or submitting to her husband, in all of his demands, including sex.  Married women can still be raped by their partner.  A piece of paper that recognizes a relationship between two people absolutely does not give someone the right to force their partner into intercourse.  

Last year, I finished an internship with the Jersey Battered Women’s Service and learned a great deal about domestic violence. I completed the 40 hour volunteer training program and got my thick volunteer manual and the whole she-bang. Being so young, I didn’t get to work directly with clients, so it was difficult at first for me to see the impact domestic violence had on people. The women and children living there were in the SAFE HOUSE. As in they had to leave their homes immediately because of imminent danger, even the risk of DEATH.  I did get to see some of the families during Thanksgiving and Christmas when I helped with the food and toy drives. Many of the women had just left their partners and were so scared of what will happen next. Many of them filed restraining orders. But if it doesn’t get approved because of a lack of evidence or something, they have no protection. And what happens to them when the leave? They have to start new lives, and that’s scary. Many times, they are leaving the man they have children with and postpone leaving because of how it would affect the children.  I don’t know what I would do if the man I loved suddenly became this monster. And I don’t know how all of these survivors manage to do it either. It’s a daily struggle. Rihanna was right in what she said: It’s not just the physical act that hurts, it’s also the emotional scar that it leaves inside. No one can really understand the impact. Guaranteed, at least 5 people in our class have experienced domestic violence or know someone else who has.

October isn’t just Breast Cancer Awareness Month…

 

Who else knew that?

Sexually Harassed at School? Unacceptable.

My junior year in high school, a boy made a comment about my “tits.”  I was minding my own business returning to my lunch table in my t-shirt when I heard a whisper: ” Nice tits.”  It was as I was passing his lunch table, so I figured it was part of his conversation and not meant for me. I just put on my sweater and went back to the line to get some salad dressing.  When I passed him again, I distinctly heard him comment to his friend, “Geez, I said nice tits and she puts on her jacket.”  This time, it was clearly meant for me.  I sat down at my lunch table and started to shake. I had just been bullied. Now I’m obviously not the girl with the biggest breasts, so he wasn’t just “complimenting” me. I debated letting it slide but my friends encouraged me to tell the teachers.  So I walked to the front of the cafeteria and told the three teachers on lunch duty.  I had two of them previously, so they knew I was not the type of person to make this up.  These two were some of the strictest in our school.  But the other teacher believed I made it up.  So reassuring when  I was already shaking from fear.  Mr. Groeger got angry and asked who did it while Mrs. Ference was in shock that someone was actually standing up for themselves after being bullied.  Mr. Groeger followed me to the table, where I pointed at the boy while shrinking back from a blow, like I was the one in trouble.  Of course, the whole lunchroom got silent and watched everything happen.  He just stared at the kid, silent.  Immediately, the kid got up, knowing he was caught, and followed Mr. Groeger to the vice principal.  Mrs. Ference thanked me for speaking up for myself and that if more people reacted to bullying like I did, there wouldn’t be so much and there would be a better way to handle it.  Then Mr. Groeger told me to go to the vp when I was done eating.  Of course, the kid denied everything. But the vp knows me, so he told the police department. And it was filed as a sexual harassment case.  We were both minors.  And this was sexual harassment.  I had only thought that was something that happened to prostitutes or women in the workplace.  Not at a school with kids.  Certainly opened my eyes.  So when the police talked to him and told him the charges he could face, he admitted it and was given 10 hours of community service with an elderly person, had to write me an apology letter (which was a pathetic two sentences), and could never come into contact with me again.  After I got home, I was called into the police station with my mom to give a statement.  As I was walking in, he was walking out with his mom and little brother.  He came back inside after his mom convinced him to apologize to me.  My response to his apology went something like this: “I understand that you had no intention of hurting me; you just wanted to goof off with your friends.  But you should really think about how your words and actions affect others.  I’m strong enough to not be hurt by your comment, but what if I was someone battling depression, suicidal even?  And what if your comment was the last straw, the one that made me go home and kill myself?  How would you feel?  Would you be able to live with yourself?  What would others think of you, the guy who bullied a girl into killing herself?  Think before you speak, because you could save a whole mess of trouble, even someone’s life.”  I felt badly for saying something so violent in front of his younger brother, but maybe if he heard it before puberty, he would learn to be a better person.  Everyone there was shocked at what had just come out of my mouth, even me.  I couldn’t speak anymore so his mom apologized again and my mom just thanked them for their apology and they left.  When I spoke to the officer, she told me that she was proud of me.  So was my mom.  She asked if I wanted to press charges and I said no, I think he learned his lesson.  But she told me that the police department has the right to file charges for the next year if he does something stupid again.  They’d give him a break for his first offense and wipe it from his record after a year.  I was okay with that. I simply wanted to tell him what I thought and let that eat him alive.  The funny part of this was that at the end of the school day, one of my brother’s friends who was there during lunch pointed the kid out to him, making sure the kid knew that was my brother.  He pleaded to my brother, “Don’t beat me up, please! I never meant to hurt her!”  My brother never planned on pummeling him though, just laughed in his face . Hysterical.