For this week’s blog assignment we were asked to think of an incident we experienced bias,
prejudice, and/or oppression, or witnessed someone else as the target of
bias, prejudice, and/or oppression.
The experience
I most remember is when I first began my career in an early head start class.
My room consisted of 8 children, 6 of which were Spanish speaking, and one year
old.
At the time
I was working with a woman that was married with two young boys, her husband
was laid off, and they were forced to sell their home and rent a trailer in a predominantly
Spanish speaking community.
One day
while cleaning the classroom, as the children slept, she stated to me that some
“wetbacks” stole her son’s bike. I looked at her and asked if she knew who
stole the bikes, not realizing the definition of the term she used. She stated;
“yes, those nasty little Mexicans”.
At that point, I knew the term she used was a negative
connotation against Spanish speaking individuals. I responded to her in a not
so nice way in the beginning, but immediately realized, getting angry was not
the solution, but in fact a lesson in respect would be more helpful. To this
day I can not comprehend how an educator that works in a diverse setting, where
90% of the children and families we serve are Spanish speaking, can state such
an ignorant statement as she did. I immediately let her know that I was
reporting her to the center manger, and that I did not feel comfortable working
along side of her. The woman was reprimanded for her behavior, which did not
improve, and later discharged within the next 3 weeks.
By using such a derogatory term against another race, this
frames people of color as inferior and creates a wider narrative of oppression.
I felt offended and ashamed to hear someone who works with children and
families, from all ethnicites use such a races slur, and it appeared to me
that she felt angry and hurt to be associated with anyone outside of her own race;
I feel this is true for me as well.
Learning about anti-bias is not only a great learning
experience in the classroom for children, but adults as well. Our goal as
adults is to empower children in this diverse and ever changing world, but to
do so, we as adults need to be more responsive to the diverse needs of the
children and families we serve, or encounter in our daily lives.
“An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.”
— Martin Luther King, Jr.
"
It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.”
— Maya Angelou
Cynthia, this is such a meaning post. Let me tell around this time one year, I was teaching for Head Start and Santa was come to take pictures with the children. Santa just happened to be African American this time and one of the children stated that there is no way that could be the real Santa Clause. The real Santa is "white." As I sat there wondering why this child would say such a thing, I realized that most things that children are knowledgeable of comes from the child's family. This includes beliefs and traditions. We have to be mindful of what we place in children, because it will come out and embarrass you at the most uncomfortable times.
ReplyDeleteCynthia,
ReplyDeleteI applaud you for speaking up against the remark that the lady made about Mexicans. Some people would have ignored what she said and not tell her anything. Tymeshia is absolutely correct. Children learn what we teach them. If this is how she talks in the early childhood setting, I can only imagine what is said in her home around her children. Stereotyping, biases, prejudices, and discriminatory remarks are very hurtful. We had a similar incident at combined vacation bible school a few summers ago. The children were given a color sheet of Jesus. They were coloring and one of the students (a little boy) was coloring the face of his Jesus brown. The little boy next to him immediately said, "no, stop, that's not correct. Jesus is not brown. Jesus is white." There was three bible school teachers in the classroom. Before any of us had a chance to stop and intervene, the little boy answered and said, "Jesus can be any color that you imagine he is and I imagine that he is brown." The other little boy said, "at my church Jesus is white." When the parents returned to pick up their children, we spoke to each of the little boy's parents and explained the conversation that had taken place between the two of them. Since the conversation ended, we did not speak to the boys, but we wanted the parents to know so that they can explain the issue to the boys according to their beliefs.
Hi Cynthia,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing your experience with us. I applaud you for reporting your co-worker. That is never an easy thing to do, but in this case it was very warranted and necessary. A child’s self-image is a reflection of what other people see in them, and you saved these children from having this unloving person participate in the creation of their self-image. It is unfortunate that you were in this situation, but a very good thing that you knew the right thing to do.
Thank you again for sharing.
Melissa
Cynthia,
ReplyDeleteI know you didn't want to tell on your co-worker, but to me it was the right choice. She could have called one of the Spanish children "wetbacks" in the classroom which would have been so rude and ugly. I work at a headstart center also and we have a lot of Mexican children attending our school. I have never had an incident with a child or the family with my 17 years being employed. Great post!!!
I enjoyed reading your post Cynthia! It saddens me to know that we have people like that particular woman working with our children. I am so glad that you reacted to her the way in which you did. You would think that with her being a parent, she would know better than to display that type of behavior toward a child. I agree with you that learning about anti- bias is beneficial for adults as well as children. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDelete