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? Keep in mind that one can encounter such incidents in real contexts, including online environments, as well as in fictional ones, such as movies, books, television shows, and the like.

The memory that comes to mind is that of when my sisters and I were small (about 7 years of age) my parents took us shopping and just like little children we were just looking around the store.  One of the store clerks noticed us and started following us all throughout the store, not saying a word.  We started walking out the store and my Father noticed the clerk followed us and so he decided to approach her to ask if there was a problem, had his children taken something without paying.  Her answer was no, but because we were Hispanics she had to be double sure that we were not taking anything.

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

The incident of prejudice diminished equity when the store clerk put all Hispanics in the same category of "if you are a Hispanic then you must be someone who steals from others". Without really knowing what type of persons we were, she put us in the same level as maybe someone else she had had a bad experience with.

What feelings did this incident bring up for you?

It brought feelings of being uncomfortable in the stores, however, my parents made sure they explained very carefully the reason the store clerk had done what she had done.  I guess because we were still young children it didn't affect us much and the way that my parents explained the situation also played a big part on how we developed as adults.

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

I think that how everyone in the community think and act would change this way of thinking. We must continue to educate everyone in this sort of topic.