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NOT FOR THE FAINT-HEARTED: Tales of Crazy Possession and Lethal Obsession

Discrimination (from my Forums post)

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by
RoCKiTcZa
, 06-28-2008 at 05:24 AM (3675 Views)
Discrimination. Many of us despise this word. I, too, possess an extreme loathing for it, and will not go into in-depth descriptions of it seeing as all of us know about it—and hate it. And indeed, why mustn’t we? No one wants to be belittled, nor cursed at because his looks are not desirable to others, because she is a woman, because he is not the richest man in the universe, because his religion is not the most powerful religion in the world, and so many other because-s. To some people, this gets so irritating to the point that it makes them sick. Why, who tells us that these are the most terrible-looking people, that women are weak, that only the rich can do or mean something, which religion is king, and so on? People, of course. Yes, people. Those people who believe in and tell us these stupid things.

I must admit that I have never experienced the impact of racial discrimination with such pain and sadness as that of my countrymen when they heard a white man hurl personal insults at their snub noses, almond-shaped eyes, and golden-brown skin, as people often behold my looks with the same regard they hold for people of the Caucasian race—one fact that is not at all reassuring, but only gives me a picture of how unfair things are in this world, despite the “many” changes it has encountered since the time slavery was outlawed.

Religious discrimination is yet another form of social injustice which people of all races, social status and gender must bear. Although there is a valid reason for people to look down at me because of my religion, I have quite successfully prevented this by not speaking of it in public. Not that I am ashamed of my religion, of course not, I just don’t feel comfortable speaking about it, especially in front of people who scorn it. Certainly I am not doing this to make it look like I am hopeless; I just do not want anything to keep me from reaching my dreams. When at last I succeed in realizing all of my aspirations, I will slowly begin to eliminate this destructive mindset from the suffering brains of the people. Never to worry, allies.

Discrimination due to social status: this is the type of discrimination I am most familiar with. Though no one really walks up to me and tells me in my face that I am poor, therefore I cannot do anything; yet I feel it in their stare and the way they treat my family. Just because we cannot afford an excess of luxuries, they label us among the poor, incapable people even though they do not state it. We are middle-class people, not rich, and not very poor either, yet the wealthier class often looks down at us and deprives us of the respect we must have. Luckily, in my school, which is slowly getting to be a school for the elite (a very sad thing, indeed), nobody is able to decipher the mystery as to whether I am very rich or poor, for my father has taught me how to look presentable to everyone and to compete with people on a different aspect, that even the richest people around would see me as their equal.

This time, I would like hear from you. Have you had any experiences with discrimination, or are you currently struggling to break free from it? If that is so; I would be very pleased to hear your stories. Not only do we share the same viewpoint, we might also get to help each other solve our problems regarding discrimination, for I know how traumatizing it is to be in a situation like this. If you wouldn’t mind, I will include your story in a school project, so please identify yourself; however, if you wish to remain anonymous, feel free to PM me on this, or state a brief identification on this PM to me. I thank you very much, and hopefully one day we shall be able to stand up against those who look down at us, and who knows? Maybe, one day, we might begin to see things in a totally different light.
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  1. mtpspur's Avatar
    Let's see where to begin? It is an unfortunate part of human nature to discriminate on a variety of levels but you have captured he main unsavory levels well. Youmay use my first name Rich in any school project you like. Growing up the main discrimeinations were based on a sorry lack of personal pleasing looks and a clumsy performance in sports. To this day I have almost no interest in what teams are going to the Super Bowl and perk up only when an athlete gets into trouble. And this is the rub--I am discriminating against sports people simply because of painful memories of gym class as opposed to appreciating their personal victories and performances in their sphere of influence. Ultimately I believe that I am the greater offender because I should KNOW better. As to social status I have tried to be content in whatsoever state I am in (per the Bible) and not take too seriously the disdain of the rich. Not that I have known that many. On the rare occasion I am in their presence courtesy is always maintained both ways and I'm generally background noise anyhow. I wish best behind the scenes anyway. If I may gently suggest I suspect you cncern yourself a bit too much with the opinions of others - real or imagined--if I am wrong I tender an apology effective immediately. This may be the context of your blog and I'm reading too much of 'you' in it. Please forgive. Now as to religious discrimination I ahve always been puzzled, appalled and irritated at 'Chrisitian" who behave worse then the Pharisee in their treatment of outsiders. My personal belief is that God treats us all the same based on how He created us and cries of no fair have no real bearing on the relationship. It is my place, responsibility and privilege to share not bludgeon a person about their soul. Holier then thou attitudes are offensive to God and insulting to a real believer. Just saying. Hope this helps. By the by--I'm 57 years now and this is based on years of experience good and bad and many many missteps. We try to learn from our mistakes.
  2. Bakiryu's Avatar
    My name is Jessica and if you want you can include me and my name. In the country where I grew up discrimination is an every day thing. Even thought when we get to America people do discriminate against us for almost the same reason we discriminate people there. The main reasons are race and looks. Religion hasn't really mattered since it wasn't always legal in the system and wealth? we're all poor.

    I grew up with discrimination seeing as my family was somewhat rich, compared with what America deems rich, we were below middle class but I had shoes and food when my friends had very little of those things. A lack of food causes starvation and skinniness so even thought looking at my pictures I look skinny compared with my friends, I was the fat kid. People always discriminated against me because of this, called me names, and I ended up growing with little to none self-esteem.

    When I came to America (We won the Visa lottery) people made fun of me because I didn't speak english and discriminated against me because of my accent and my looks. People still discriminate against me even thought my english is technically perfect and my looks aren't cookie-cutter flat-chested blond airhead.

    Even thought I know how discrimination hurts people I'm guilty of looking down on others, I was raised to discriminate and I can't just stop it. I don't say but I think little of those different from me. For example, the other day I went to a Mexican supermarket and I felt disgust, not because I don't like Mexicans, I mean, I don't know any. But because that was what I was raised to feel. They're so different from me: shorter, darker, a bit less pretty.

    I'm working on overcoming my discriminative instincts but it's not easy. Our upbringing always works against us and it takes a conscious effort to stop doing something because you just realized it it's wrong.

    While most people think about those being discriminated they don't realized that the person who is doing the discrimination is often misguided and they may be trying to stop.

    I am against discrimination as a whole but I am also guilty of it.
  3. Virgil's Avatar
    I agree real discrimnation is wrong. Discriminating because of one's identity, race, religion, gender is immoral. But when I hear some people talk about discrimination I find it completely trivialized. It is not discrimination to make assumptions about the way people look based on their dress or appearance. The person who dresses in a particular way is communicating something and the person on the other end is receiving and interpreting the communication. The person who dresses in a particular fashion understands what he is saying and associating himself with. The person recieving those signals has built a lifetime of associations. To deny the associations exist is like denying that short people have a harder time playing basketball. This is a much more complicated subject than most people, especially young people, really understand.
  4. motherhubbard's Avatar
    I've been saving this blog. I think I have some experience with discrimination although I can’t say I’ve really been discriminated against. It’s rampant in my area. In fact, if people ask where I’m from I say one of the small communities instead of the only big town around because of it’s negative associations with the KKK. It’s a little crazy around here. The really strange part is that we moved here from Memphis, TN. Where I was the only white girl in my class. Talk about culture shock! Of course there have been people who thought that there were things I couldn’t do because I’m a girl, I hate that. And I suppose lots of people have been treated poorly because socioeconomic factors.