The personal side of bias, prejudice, and oppression

What memory do you have of an incident when you experienced bias, prejudice, and/or oppression, or witnessed someone else as the target of bias, prejudice, and/or oppression?

This experience in one I shared in my Diversity Profile, and I share it now because it was not only unbelievable then, but still is in my mind. Getting new students is a very common occurrence in our school. For the past two years I have thought of my classroom as a “revolving door” because students are always in my room for a month or so and out the next. I had about 10 students who started the year and finished the year with me. Anyways, I was called down to the office one day to meet my new student. I walked down and upon extending my hand to the parent; I remember the mother’s first words upon seeing me. “Oh no, oh no, you’re a teacher here? No, no, no this will not work for my son. You’re too nice. He needs someone who will be tough. He needs a teacher who is black.” I was absolutely floored by this comment. This statement did not hide any of her thoughts regarding a white teacher. It was a loaded statement mainly implying that because I was white I would not be tough enough for her child, and that being white meant I was nice. Even months after this occurred it still shocks me that someone would not only think this, but say it out loud.  For the record, this child was not placed in my class after all; the principal decided that nothing good would come out of that after our first interaction.

In what way(s) did the specific bias, prejudice and/or oppression in that incident diminish equity?

This specific incident implied that certain personality traits are carried by people based on color. It implied that because I am white, I do not carry the ability to be a tough teacher with high expectations. Also, this incident modeled the parents view to the child. As a child looking up to his parent, it showed how the parent felt regarding white teachers; something he could begin to believe as true. Because I know how the remainder of the year was for this child, and that he was placed in the classroom of a teacher who was a few months from retirement, and never left her computer chair, I can say this situation ultimately hurt his ability to be a part of a classroom that was filled with active and engaging learning opportunities.

What feelings did this incident bring up for you?

The feelings I have from this incident were first shock and honestly still a little bit of that. After sharing the story with a few friends, I started to realize that this really did anger me because this teacher knew nothing about me and how I teach. She judged me by the way I looked. I work very hard to ensure that I set the expectations for my students high and I treat each of them fairly. In those mere moments getting a look at how I teach was completely overlooked, actually not even recognized.  Personally, now I think it is just sad to know that some people feel that way, and are ridiculous enough to actually verbalize it.

What and/or who would have to change in order to turn this incident into an opportunity for greater equity?

Honestly, the only way this incident could have turned out better was for the parent to not think this way, or at least not verbalize it and give me the chance to teach her son. Even if the parent did have a bad experience with a teacher who was white, it would be important to remember that not everyone is the same. In my opinion this situation did more hurt than anything in the long run, because it not only led to a year in a “not so great” class, but it also displayed biased feelings to the child, something he too could start to believe is true.