Saturday, August 6, 2011

Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

I have personally experienced bias, and prejudice.  But I am choosing to talk about an incident that my high school friend experienced.  My high school friend,  Naji who is Indian, had a horrible time in high school.  He was small and very thin.  He was constantly teased and picked on especially by a Chinese group that went to another high school but took the same way to the public transit system.  We always walked in groups and would witness the teasing but we ignored it and would keep on walking.  But one day, Naji had to stay late after school, I believe he was tutoring someone in math that day and on his walk to the public transit he encountered this Chinese group.  Unfortunately, they took advantage of the fact that he was alone and they decided to beat him up.  He was beat so badly that they knocked out his front teeth and he had cuts, bruises, and a broken rib.  It was literally a "gang" we were to learn later that had been harassing him.  This "gang" took issue with "Indians" and had decided to make Naji an example of their gang war.  The police had to get involved and they tried to get justice for Naji.  Naji was never the same again.  He became extremely reclusive and wasn't the same person.  He stopped tutoring after school and finished the semester and transferred to another school.  This particular incident diminished equity because it disempowered Naji.  Even though he had the law on his side, he never felt safe.  We felt so bad for Naji.  Justice was never really found for him.  The incident changed him forever and I will never know if he received healing from this incident.  After he left my high school, I never saw him again.  To turn this incident into an opportunity for greater equity many things would have to change. I think my high school administration and the other high school administration should have taken more action to prevent these types of incidents.  They should have been more pro-active in trying to implement startegies to open dialogue for different groups.  The schools failed Naji and the students involved in this incident.  Change needs to happen on the local level.

4 comments:

  1. That is a very upsetting story. I think violence is the worst of all racial acts, because, as you said, the victim will never feel safe again. Also, the fear and loss of power one must feel during the incident is unimaginable. I agree with you that schools should take a more active role in protecting children, and so should communities and society. There is far too much looking the other way. Children should never experiece feelings of insecurity at school or between home and school - but this is an ever increasing problem. My local high school has armed security guards to help insure safety - but I feel that they really add to the feelings of insecurity.

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  2. Your story of Naji made me think about all of the anti-bullying curriculums and approaches that are showing up in schools now days. I really have to wonder if they are really working or if students are still being harassed or in Naji's case, being physically assaulted.

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  4. Johan,

    The story of Johan is a perfect example for this assignment indeed but also so very tragic. My heart breaks for Naji and others that go through senseless acts of violence. He was victimized simply because of his ethnicity and that is unacceptable. What makes it even worse is that he has never been the same. He likely suffers from PTSD after such a traumatic experience. What a tragedy!

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