Personal Narrative: My Experience With Racism
The first time I experienced racism, I was a young naïve 18 year old girl. It was my first year in college right out of high school, and it was my first time outside of my predominately black world. I had just moved to San Bernardino, Ca to attend college, from South Central Los Angeles. I had gone to an all-black high school, attended an all-black church and at the time had all black friends. I remember the first day my family packed me up and we headed off to my new life in college. I had only been in school for a little while and had made new friends and was just excited about my life. One afternoon we all went to the grocery store and as we were leaving a white adult man in a pickup truck got me and my friend’s attention. In a matter
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Looking back in retrospect, that incident was the first stage of removing my innocence towards race. From that day forward I was no longer oblivious to my black skin and how other perceived who I was as a black woman. However if I could have changed anything it would have been the way my parents taught me about being black and racism. In my household we never talked directly about race. Although, I knew it existed, because I had never personally experienced it, it was never a consideration. My parents taught me to work hard and do my best and my race was not a condition that would affect either. I belief their intentions were to equip me for any and everything but because of the limitation of their abilities I was not prepared that day.
I am a firm believer that race reconciliation will only occur when we are honesty with one another. By acknowledging our differences and embracing our similarities we break the cycle of racism that has plagued so many generations. As the years went by and I was able to really have conversations with my parents regarding race, I realized there was so much I wish they had share with me and my siblings. The best way to facilitate the learning and support of those who have experience racism is being open to communicating about difficult issues regarding
Looking back in retrospect, that incident was the first stage of removing my innocence towards race. From that day forward I was no longer oblivious to my black skin and how other perceived who I was as a black woman. However if I could have changed anything it would have been the way my parents taught me about being black and racism. In my household we never talked directly about race. Although, I knew it existed, because I had never personally experienced it, it was never a consideration. My parents taught me to work hard and do my best and my race was not a condition that would affect either. I belief their intentions were to equip me for any and everything but because of the limitation of their abilities I was not prepared that day.
I am a firm believer that race reconciliation will only occur when we are honesty with one another. By acknowledging our differences and embracing our similarities we break the cycle of racism that has plagued so many generations. As the years went by and I was able to really have conversations with my parents regarding race, I realized there was so much I wish they had share with me and my siblings. The best way to facilitate the learning and support of those who have experience racism is being open to communicating about difficult issues regarding