Overcoming Bias And Prejudice Research Paper

Overcoming Bias and Prejudice: Becoming Self-Aware
My name is Sean Lamar Hellems. I turned 24 on October 14. I was born in 1992 to John Hellems, Sr. & Natalie-Jean Craft in Bridgeton, Missouri—a suburb of Saint Louis. Unfortunately, my mother struggled with drugs and alcohol. After acting irresponsibly, she was hit by a truck and killed when I was two years old.
In 1994, my father married Raygenea Williams. That same year, we left Saint Louis in an old abandoned mail-truck. We moved 100 miles north to Hannibal, Missouri because Saint Louis was becoming too crime-stricken. My parents wanted to build a life that would allow us to have the best opportunities. They believed that moving to a smaller mostly white community would accomplish this.
My dad was born in Saint Louis Missouri to William and Lucy Hellems. Lucy was part Cherokee and mostly Black, and William was mixed with Black and White. William was born in Stephens City, Virginia in 1893. Desiring to escape racial persecution which was prevalent in Virginia, the family changed the surname from Helms to Hellems and moved to Saint Louis Missouri.
Moreover, when the Helms immigrated to America, they did so for the same reasons as many other people: to seek economic opportunity. The United States of America was perceived to be a land of opportunity, where white men could come and build their lives and families with egalitarian protections codified in law and social mores. Unfortunately, the Helms would learn that these protections only truly extended to White Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs). Catholics were heavily persecuted at this time. However, unlike most Catholic immigrants, the Helms were English. This means that they had the privilege of navigating the United States and its systems much more easily, given that there was no language barrier. Furthermore, American society was largely white, English, and Protestant. Despite the religious difference, my family was not forced to strip itself of any regional traditions or customs in order to assimilate into the broader society. Being English, my family’s existence was normative, allowing it to be affirmed with ease. Also, despite any religious persecution, my family retained
Conversely, my mother was fully black. Unfortunately, not much is known of her family. My father’s relationship with her was fragile. (They “hooked up,” but were not in a committed relationship.) What is known is that Her ancestors were slaves. They were brought in chains from West Africa. As is true of most African Americans, my ancestors took the name of their slave master, which in this case was Craft. This represents an example of acculturation. This is especially true of freed slaves who wanted to ensure that their families had access to the most opportunity possible. Associating yourself with your African roots, by claiming an African name would result in the opposite