One
of the most exciting scientific accomplishments of this century is Human Genome
Project which is the cataloging of human genes. This will lead to great
understanding of the human body and advance medical science. One of the most
important findings is that while human beings differ in outward appearance, the
genetic structure of all human beings is 99.9% identical. These researchers
agree that there is only one race, the human race.
However we continue to struggle with the concept of appreciating diversity, and discrimination and prejudice still exist in many forms. For example, you may have been discriminated against because of your ethnic group, religion, height, weight, gender, disability, or even academic skills. For this discussion, give an example of a circumstance where you have experienced or witnessed discrimination. Any ideas on how to reduce discrimination?
I will share an example of discrimination that I experienced. I started my doctoral program at USC when I was 8 months pregnant. After the first class the professor took me aside and suggested that I drop out of the program because of my family situation. I was really angry and decided to show him that I would finish. I am happy to report that I was one of the first three students to finish the program.
At Cuyamaca College, we have many Chaldean students who are Christians who have emigrated from Iraq to avoid religious persecution. Since the attacks of 9-11, this group has faced discrimination at our college and in our community. Whenever there is anything about terrorism in the news, many students who are from the Middle East suffer discrimination even though they have nothing to do with terrorism. Any comments on this?
However we continue to struggle with the concept of appreciating diversity, and discrimination and prejudice still exist in many forms. For example, you may have been discriminated against because of your ethnic group, religion, height, weight, gender, disability, or even academic skills. For this discussion, give an example of a circumstance where you have experienced or witnessed discrimination. Any ideas on how to reduce discrimination?
I will share an example of discrimination that I experienced. I started my doctoral program at USC when I was 8 months pregnant. After the first class the professor took me aside and suggested that I drop out of the program because of my family situation. I was really angry and decided to show him that I would finish. I am happy to report that I was one of the first three students to finish the program.
At Cuyamaca College, we have many Chaldean students who are Christians who have emigrated from Iraq to avoid religious persecution. Since the attacks of 9-11, this group has faced discrimination at our college and in our community. Whenever there is anything about terrorism in the news, many students who are from the Middle East suffer discrimination even though they have nothing to do with terrorism. Any comments on this?
Race is prominent in the news lately over the issue on African American men being killed by police officers. You can share your views on this issue as an option for your post this week.
This week you can make one post of 200 words (instead of 2 of 100 words each) if you want since the topic of appreciating diversity or describing incidents of discrimination might need more words.
This week you can make one post of 200 words (instead of 2 of 100 words each) if you want since the topic of appreciating diversity or describing incidents of discrimination might need more words.
Give an example of a circumstance where you have experienced or witnessed discrimination. Any ideas on how to reduce discrimination?
ReplyDeleteI have experienced discrimination many times. The time that I will always remember is when I was discriminated against by an officer. I was ten years old at the time this happened. Late one night I was walking to the store to get my grandmother something she needed. I was stopped by the police and immediately stopped. When the officer asked me what I was doing I told him the truth. He did not believe me and decided to run my name through their database. When he came from his cruiser he smirked at me and said, “Your last name is Evans I should take you in just on that alone”. My father, uncles and cousins all have had history with the law. Here I am a ten year old kid picking something up from the store for my grandma and I am being discriminated on. I was let go but I will always remember this time because I was not doing anything wrong and was judged according to incidents I had nothing to do with. I believe that discrimination is a major problem. People discriminate over the pettiest of things. If everyone treated every single person fair and without bias I believe the world would be a much better place.
You have touched on a major problem in our society today. We need to have diversity training for police officers and monitor them to make sure they are fair to everyone. It is an important issue raised by the news recently. Thanks for sharing your experience.
DeleteAs a biracial student (African American, Hispanic, and Caucasian) attending a majority Caucasian high school, I experienced much discrimination from many of the students in my school. There were many students wouldn't speak to me or share in group projects with me in classes because of my diversity. The swastika and hail Hitler symbol were a part of my weekly views and often found on walls, in lockers, and bathroom stalls. Many students made racist comments and jokes during class as well as during breaks without a second thought to their words. I remember reading the book “To Kill a Mockingbird,” in my English class. There were several comments made during this time and one imparticular stands out to me. After reading a chapter in class that did not end well for the African America in the story, -as he is wrongly convicted of rape- a boy in class near me said out loud, “well that’s what the nigger gets.” Afterwards he looked at me and laughed. Knowing that humans are 99.9% alike just makes people so ignorant when they take such small differences and turn them into huge issues. It is sad to think that such ignorance can result in such hatred and violence, leading up to genocide.
ReplyDeleteIt is sad that these discriminatory comments still happen in our high schools. I'm sure they learned the discrimination in their families. Hopefully through education we can learn better. Thanks for sharing.
DeleteThe topic I will be discussing in the discrimination against chaldean and arabic overall. I was once in their shoes when I moved from Jordan to California 4 years ago. People made fun of me, my language, my accent, called me a “boater” and much more. They always asked me if we had cars back in Jordan, and if we came to California using the boat, which comes from the word “boater.” It was honestly ridiculous and pathetic because it showed me how the people that asked me all these questions were very uneducated. We are after all just humans living under the same sky, no matter what language we speak nor what color skin we have, or what country we came from. Each country has its problems and has people who commit terrible things, but we can't view everybody else based on that one person. If some arabic person committed a murder, the new will go on and on with calling that person a terrorist, but when some American person commits a murder, they accuse him of having mental issues. A lot of people dont notice that on the news because they only like to see one side of the story and leave it there. PEople shouldn't always believe what they see on the news and stop judging people based on their race, home country, or religion.
ReplyDeleteYes, I hope we can move toward a time when we look at people as individuals and not use stereotypes. Hopefully education will help to move us in the right direction. Thanks for sharing.
DeleteGive an example of a circumstance where you have experienced or witnessed discrimination. Any ideas on how to reduce discrimination?
ReplyDeleteI have actually experienced and witnessed discrimination. When I use to go to the public restrooms a lot of people would just stare at me when I would enter the girls restroom because I looked like a guy. Their was a time when a lady told me sorry but your in the wrong restroom and she called a security and a girl came in and told me to get out and the security guy heard my voice and was like sorry but we had a person that was concern that their was a boy using the girls restrooms. I also witnessed when I had gone to the middle school a guy getting harassed because he was gay and I ended up getting in trouble because I had fought the girl that was harassing him. Honestly the only time I think we are able to reduce discrimination if only people can stop judging others and able to accept others no matter what color, race or religion. Sometimes I don’t understand why people have to be so harsh. People should be more open minded and value different backgrounds because we are Americans and we should all be treated equally no matter any circumstances.
I think that we need to move toward acceptance of all including those with different sexual orientations. You are brave in sharing this with us. Hopefully it will help others understand and appreciate a different point of view. Thanks for sharing.
DeleteI believe that discrimination is one of the worst things facing this country today. There are so many issues with the police and minority groups today. My dad was a police officer in san Diego for 35 years and he never had to pull out his gun once while on duty. So I believe that the police departments around America need to take extra care in teaching there new recruits to use there guns as a last resort between life and death not just to stop so, me one who is running away. I know that they teach officers in California not to use there guns until it is absolutely necessary, usually they use non-lethal techniques to subdue a person. However despite all the training that they go through they are just a man or woman behind the badge. Which means a lot of things like they are no different from any other person, when they take off that badge they're a civilian too. Also since they are just humans they will make mistakes and like everyone on earth they have bad days and good days. Also at the same time I don't understand why people run from the police. If you are innocent then you have nothing to fear, and there for no reason to run. All I know is that if a cop is pulling me over my first instinct isn't to run. People in general need to be more accepting and respecting of each other whether they are a different race or wear a uniform. I am hopeful over the next few generations we can learn to overlook race, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, and etc. in society.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your comments on this issue. I agree that pulling a gun should be a last resort. I recently visited Norway and police there don't even have guns! I think we need to rethink this issue which includes looking at the problems from the point of view of police who risk their lives every day. Recent news unfortunately shows that police are too ready to shoot at African Americans. It is a complex issue.
DeleteAs far as discrimination relates to me directly I did have some issue years ago when I was married. My ex-husband is of Puerto Rican and Spanish descent and I am Caucasian and mongrel-mix of other Native American and European descents. Since I have lived in California most of my life which is a melting pot of people and since I come from an already diverse family I didn’t experience a lot of discrimination. I have lived in what are considered as “ghetto” neighborhoods though and understand well the roles that stereotypes play there. As I was most directly affected by discrimination were the years I lived in Savannah Georgia with my ex. People never blatantly said anything to us but there occasional nasty sneers and unpleasant looks when we were out together. We also had a neighbor who was especially racist but tried to hide it. I always thought it was funny since we lived right off of a military base, which are typically very diverse, that there was still so much race stigma in the mid-south. I can remember my ex coming home from work one day super upset because part of his job was flag folding for military burials and he was sent to a town in southern GA where they still bury people on different sides of the road based on color.
ReplyDeleteIn another matter I have two nieces and one nephew who are considered “mixed-race” two are African American and Caucasian and the youngest is Filipino and Caucasian and they range in age from 9 to 12 and though I work to reinforce the concepts of humanism with them and that we are all diverse and beautiful no matter our color I find that I also have conversations with them about not using slang language and about the burden that stereotyping might have on them if they make certain choices. It sucks to have to tell a 12-year-old girl that if she uses the same kind of slang language as another girl her age that is a different ethnicity that she might be viewed or judged in ways other people might not another person, and that assumptions might be made and that those assumptions can have a lasting effect. So instead I encourage no slang and live bewildered that such seemingly minute matters warrant discrimination in modern society from some people. I am going to continue to teach them that being who you are is beautiful and that hopefully the pool of bigotry is ever so slowly evaporating.
Yes, who you are is beautiful and I am currently teaching my granddaughters this same idea. Hopefully with education, we can teach our children better. I was horrified to hear about burying people according to color. Hard to believe that this still exists.
DeleteIt has been so sad reading through all the other posts on this subject; it’s horrible to realize how much discrimination happens around here on a day to day basis. You would think that as a young Caucasian man that I wouldn’t have had much experience with discrimination, but as I spent most of my life abroad I was actually nearly always the odd one out—the minority kid that nobody wanted to hang out with. “Foreign Devil” is a nasty label to have to carry around, no matter what country you’re in. I was actually hoping that things would be better in the States since the level of racial diversity is so high, but clearly racism is still a huge problem here. The situation that currently bothers me the most is the animosity directed towards Muslims in this country; the common assumption seems to be that the Muslim faith is somehow evil and that all Muslims should be avoided and feared because of the actions of a few, and this is incredibly unfair, unproductive, and stupid. Stereotypes are so easy to fall into, but they are so dangerous! I would challenge anyone to actually try and talk to people before trying to slot them neatly into some sort of mindless stereotype; whenever I’ve taken the time to do so I invariably find that each and every person is a fascinating, original, creative, and intriguing individual, and that they almost never match up with my preconceived ideas. Diversity is awesome—if anything, we simply need more of it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your insightful comments. This is an important issue for Cuyamaca College as well as the rest of our country. People need to understand that Muslim does not equal terrorist.
DeleteA few years ago, I moved to the United States of America to be with my family. In my first week of school in the US, I was always introduced by the teachers as coming from another country. Being the new girl was already hard enough, let alone everyone thinking you’re different. Everyone assumed that I could not speak English well, including teachers. A lot of people talked to me very slowly and said that it is okay if I failed some of the first few tests. I came in to school on a Friday. Since, it was my first Friday of going to school here, I didn’t know that in that school, Fridays mean tests/quiz days. I am happy to say that even though I was new and everyone thought I couldn’t comprehend, I scored the highest in those classes. Physical Education class and Lunch time was probably the hardest for me. Being new and coming in a few months into the semester, I didn’t have friends and I didn’t know anyone. I wasn’t always picked to be in teams and it was hard to find somewhere to sit at lunch since everyone kind of keep to themselves. One day, there was this girl that said that she thinks that it is so cool that I am different and she wanted to get to know me. She invited me for lunch and we became friends.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your experience. It is difficult being the new kid and from a different country. It is great that you met someone who said it was cool to be different.
DeleteI remember in high school I wanted to join as many clubs as I could to help me get into college. I remember there was one club one of my friends suggested called Si Se Puede. Now, in order to join this club it said that you needed to be Hispanic, seeing as how I am half Mexican and half Puerto Rican I figured I would be able to join. However, I was told that I could not join the club because I was too "Americanized", because I was not fluent in spanish and I knew very little about my cultural background because I was always taught more about the American culture. I felt very embarrassed and angry. Although I was angry because I could not get into the club, I was more angry that I was discriminated against by people I felt that I would have some sort of connection with because we had the same ethnic background. Due to this I decided to try other clubs that did not have any discriminatory rules to get in and as a result of getting into these new clubs I found some of my very close friends who were much more open minded.
ReplyDeleteDiscrimination exists in many different forms. We need to begin seeing people as individuals and accept them for who they are.
DeleteIn my home Iraq there is a lot of discrimination in religion. They Persecuted the Christian people, and made them left their homes and houses. This is what happening tell now in the north of Iraq. Many innocent people and children were in Camps without The Simple Life Requirements. They were living a hard life without their homes and their staffs especially in winter when the weather was so cold. May God be with them and help them in their crisis. I think it’s too hard to reduce discrimination in religion, but at least we should Value diversity, accept the differences of others, and learn how to respect this diversity.
ReplyDeleteYes, the situation in the Middle East is very sad when we think of all the people who are suffering and homeless over religious issues.
DeleteWhile everyone may be genetically the same, we are all different. Different in terms of looks, and generally the way we go about life. Although just because people are different it doesn't mean someone of Asian origins should be treated differently than somebody with African origins. The golden rule is truly the golden rule, "treat others as you would want to be treated." Once people recognize this the world may finally be a better place. Diversity brings so much to the world in terms of the workplace and life in general. Life would be boring if everyone was the same and did the same thing as one another. People need to start loving one another and stop being prejudice. Many times I have witnessed Chaldeans and Arabs alike being stereotyped for things that they have not done. It's sad and dishonorable, but hopefully through classes like this people will realize how being an accepting person is much more healthy than being the opposite.
ReplyDeleteI agree that we should observe the golden rule and treat others as we would want to be treated. It would make the world a better place to live.
DeleteBeing a Chaldean man I can account first hand the discrimination on my community. I always found it amazing how my culture was being discriminated against without people understanding how many similar values we share with majority of our countrymen. Kids used to make racial remarks back in school that I care not to repeat. The time ensuing 9/11 was particularly bad, and its unfortunate knowledge of the Arab world had to be introduced to the American public in such a way. During my adolescence I faced an internal struggle between my Chaldean culture and American culture. I felt like I wasn't allow to be proud of where my family comes from or the traditions my family honors. It was as if I was cast off into the world and told to choose one and alienate the other. I found it baffling how misinformed people were about me and my people. We are christians and racist people tried to group us into Islam, a religion that forced our immigration to the United States. Above all else, I was born to this country. How could I be considered less of an American in the eyes of others when this is my home? Luckily I feel our society has come a long way and the people in San Diego have a much better understanding of who Chadeans are as a people.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your experience. We all need to be educated about different cultures.
DeleteMy name is Hammed and I am muslim. Living in America has been a conflict for me because many would refer me to being a terrorist because of my religion and name. My understanding of the real islam has constrained me to persevere and put up with the discriminations facing me every day with prudence, I have been liberal of so much discrimination and throughout I've developed a non-confirmist identity, that has detached me from nearly everyone I know, I plan to challenge whoever I see criticizing others, because often times discrimination is led off by ignorance and ignorance can only be mended through education
ReplyDeleteYes, hopefully education will help us to appreciate diversity. It all begins at home with what we teach our children.
DeleteI will give an example. When my son was young, we were at the store. My son was playing near the toys (it was a second hand store) along with another little girl and a boy who had down's syndrome. Another child stopped to play and his mother, who was looking through a clothes rack next to me, immediately told her son "get away from there and play in another section.. You're not allowed to play there." I was a bit confused. I didn't pay much attention to it as I thought she was just saying it to redirect him to other toys. However, as I moved to another rack, her child had gone back to the toys where my son and other children were and my son comes up to me and asks me "Mom, what does retarded mean? " I was baffled, but tried to explain that it simple. It's something that makes kids unique. He proceeded to ask me "Why is it wrong to play with kids that are unique?" I asked him what he meant. He told me that the lady had yelled at her son for playing with them by the toys because she told him that she didn't "want to see him playing with 'that' retarded kid." I was furious! Who teaches their kids that kind of discrimination. I approached the lady and asked her what she meant by that statement and she told me she does not want her son to get "dumb like that retarded kid," and I proceeded to tell her that it was a shame that a grown woman could be so uneducated and disrespectful and pass that on to her child. Of course, she was offended and told me it was not my business. However, when my child is hearing such talk, it becomes my business and I was not okay with her comments.
ReplyDeleteMy children have been encouraged to have respect for others and have kindness and good vibes in this world. I feel it is my responsibility to teach them this.
Yea! It is important to teach our children to appreciate diversity in all its different forms. You are doing a good job teaching your children about appreciating diversity.
DeleteMany people face discrimination everyday. I myself have experienced discrimination many times and have also seen many other people being discriminated against. Being middle eastern, I hear a lot of terrorist jokes or jokes about staying home and cooking and cleaning because I'm a middle eastern women. I also hear a lot of stereotypes about middle eastern work ethics or lack of and people just talking about how we only do this or that. Many of these people are ignorant and not educated, so I don't let it bother me, however I do feel that discrimination is a constant thing that will not be ending in the near future and that the only way to eliminate it would be through educating people and making them understand that the things they do and say to other people matters and that they can have life long effects on them.
ReplyDeleteYes, education is so important is helping people to understand and appreciate different cultures.
DeleteReading all these posts about discrimination has made me very disappointed of the society we live in, hopeful that we can change someday, and also thankful that I haven't faced any memorable discrimination myself. Of course, things haven't been perfect for me either, but its nothing compared to some of the stuff you guys have gone through. An example comes to me however, that I heard of today at church. A Palestinian girl, a friend of a friend from church, is facing discrimination from her own family. A while ago, while she was still in her home country, she had a dream that she saw Jesus, who told her to follow her. (Many many Muslims recently have had the same dream.) She converted from Islam to Christianity and traveled to the U.S. to get baptized. Her brother, who is a much, much more radical Muslim than most, found out about her new faith and is threatening to kill her if she tries to come back home. She is currently awaiting a lawyer to change her status in the U.S, because she is unable to work or drive or go to school without the correct visa. She also has hundreds of dollars worth of dental surgery to undergo, which my church and another are assisting in paying for. But this girl, I believe her name is Hayem (?) faces discrimination from someone who really should be the one to stick beside her. It will be a great day when all the world can disagree with one another in a LOVING way.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very sad story. Many of the problems in the world today are caused by lack of appreciation of diversity.
DeleteIt breaks my heart to know the discrimination is strong in today's society. There are far more important things to be focused on rather than tearing someone down. It is very unfortunate and hopefully a change can be made in the world. I myself and my family members have experienced discrimination. I am Hispanic and there have been countless times where people have frowned upon my family while we go out to nice/fancy restaurants or when we shop at pricey stores. We would be looked at as if we did not belong there. I've also been told to go hop a border or bring out my inner Mexican and go pick vegetables from crops. Also, my brother was walking down the street minding his own business. An officer pulls him over because he looked "suspicious" which is beyond ridiculous. He searched him and gave him a hard time. (My brother had nothing on him)
ReplyDeleteYes, our class has shared some heart breaking stories about discrimination. In many ways we are no better off than in the 1964 civil rights movement.
DeleteMe and my family are of the Muslim faith. It has been hard living in America after the events of nine-eleven and the constant news of terrorism that is going on in the news that seems to be daily. Most of the American people have developed the idea that all Muslims are terrorists when it is absolutely NOT true. My family and I escaped the Middle East because of terrorism and we are so grateful to be in America and away from that toxic environment in the Middle East. The actions of a few zealots have hijacked the religion and made it appear as something destructive when it is not. When I am outside, people always glare at me or make rude comments or yell at me when they see that I wear a hijab, thinking that I am one of those types of people. But I have never hurt anyone in my life. They are judging me by someone else's action, an action that I don't condone. It is very hurtful but after fourteen years, you kind of get used to it and try to have a thicker skin and not worry about it. A lot of times, it is really hard though.
ReplyDeleteIt is sad that we equate the Muslim faith with terrorism. I hope others like you speak out and remind us that not all Muslims are terrorists.
DeleteThroughout elementary school and middle school I encountered multiple times being discriminated by my classmates. My first language was Spanish and I didn’t start to learn English until after I transferred from a different school in first grade. I had an accent and spoke really fast when I started to speak more in English, however, my classmates always made fun of my accent and my slur. It definitely made me very insecure about speaking for a long time. After elementary school I was transitioning into a teen and I was picked on a lot by a group of girls who were considered the cool girls. Back when I was in middle school the website Xanga was used a lot, which was similar to FaceBook. People could leave anonymous comments on your website. One of the girls who was in the cool girl group left me a mean comment one time about how ugly my hair was and how ugly I was too. I remember being really upset because I didn’t agree with the comment she left me, but I started to believe maybe I was ugly. I remember I would cry often about going back to school. I even go to the point where I would beg my mom to homeschool.
ReplyDeleteToo bad that such discrimination exists in our schools. I am trying to teach my granddaughters that we are all beautiful in our own way. There is too much emphasis on impossible standards of beauty that we see in the media.
Deleteto reduce discrimination?
ReplyDeleteThere has been many times in my life where I have experienced discrimination. One story I am going to share is a story about when my boyfriend and I (my boyfriend is African American) went to an amusement park and how we were both put into an awkward situation. On my befriends birthday I took him to 6 Flags, I thought it would be a really fun experience for someone who has never been before. Arriving at the park we walked dup to the ticket stand were we were going to purchase out tickets and there was a white lady who was working the front of the counter and when I asked of two adult tickets the first thing she did was sit there and stare at us for a second before we even noticed, we both looked up to see her staring at her and the lady asked me If I was ever embarrassed to be walking around with a black guy, I take discrimination and segregation very seriously, I looked back at her and said no as a matter affect, I am never embarrassed. If anything you should be impressed that you actually have the audacity to sit there and ask me a question like that in this day and age, it’s what MLK wanted and that’s exactly what he got, so if you wouldn’t mind excusing us we have a theme park to enjoy with a bunch of different colored people. And I walked away.