Friday, August 9, 2013

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression


 
I incident I can recall on bias, prejudice, and oppression would be an interaction I witnessed while watching a television show recently.  In the television show, Hit the Floor, the head cheerleader was being extra hard on one of the newest cheerleaders.  As the story progressed the newest cheerleader’s mother was considered one of the best cheerleaders of the squad in the past and the head cheerleader felt like the newest cheerleader was a favorite and went out of her way to make her life as difficult as possible for her. 

While I am sure this is something that happens to people every day this is not correct.  People just want to be seen as themselves and given that chance to be display who they are.  And that is all the newest cheerleader wanted, a fair opportunity.  But the head cheerleader kept telling her that she needed to quit the squad because she was not as good as the girl she replaced and she did not dance like her mother.  The head cheerleader also thought that the new cheerleader was placed on the squad because the cheerleading manager was friends with the new cheerleader’s mother and they were on the squad together years ago. 

Because of the unfair treat the new cheerleader was getting she was getting depressed and felt like she was not good enough and always doubted if she belonged on the squad.  She did not to be treated special because of who her mother was nor did she want any special treatment because of her looks.  She just wanted to have a good time cheering and dancing on a squad that was great and because she loved to dance.

I think that if the head cheerleader would have just been open minded and not pre-judged her I think that the new cheerleader would have not had so many anxieties of being on the squad.  While there is more to the story, the main point is the cheerleading squad and being accepted on their own talents, the merits, and what they could bring to enhance the team. 

5 comments:

  1. You right Quandra! She was unjustly judged before they got to know her. And, because the head cheerleader was the “leader” everyone on the squad followed by her example. I couldn’t imagine how the new girl felt as she was treated badly. It seemed to me that the head cheerleader was a bit jealous of or intimidated by the new cheerlead that is why she felt the need to treat her unjustly. Great post!

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  2. I feel that if a person has the skills to be a cheerleader, they each should have a fair chance of being one. No one should be judging anyone or trying to see who is better than the next person. They all are out there for the same reasons and that's to learn from each other and cheer. That's what practice is for. To get better at cheering everyday. They should not make anyone feel unwanted and like they don't know what to do.

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  3. This was a great example of how unfair the world can be and how a leader has the ability to influence others to follow such a bad and unfair example. As early childhood educators we have a chance to influence as well. We must teach students to stand up for what they believe in and to stand up for each other.

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  4. Nice example of how people can sometimes treat people in a manner that would cause a person to become depressed and feel that they are less than because she did not dance as well as another team mate or her mother. A better example to show on television would have been if she had offered to practice dancing with her so that she would become a better cheerleader or maybe it would have been better to show someone coming to the cheerleader’s defense and helping her out.

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  5. Hello Quandra, you really give some good points in your post that is the way some people are today. Because I really didn't have no ideas how prejudice The United States are until we got a black one. I didn't know that Mississippi just got completely free from slavery until the movies about Abraham Lincoln came out. The man who produced it discovered it because the papers wasn't yet signed. I think it's ashamed for people to teach the children to hate. God have no part in it, because God is love. Good Post

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