Discrimination or Prejudice

Why Discrimination Breeds More Discrimination in a Vicious Cycle
Introduction
Power and privilege is a two-way street: power can run both ways, depending on the circumstances or context. For example, a female Latina could be in a position of privilege and power in one environment and in a position of discrimination and prejudice in another environment. I know this from experience because I have been in both types of situations before in my life. What is interesting about being a Latina in America is that while most whites are not going to recognize you as one of their own, they also are not going to lump you in with other ethnic groups, such as blacks or Asians. To illustrate this, Zamudio and Lichter (2008) showed that hotel managers tend to prefer to hire Latinas over blacks in the hotel industry for whatever prejudicial reasons that managers have. On the other hand, Barajas and Ronnkvist (2007) show that in public schools racialized spaces can occur among Latina and white populations, creating tensions and hostility as these populations attempt to assert themselves in the face of perceived opposition from the other. McCabe (2009) has noted that on college campuses it is not uncommon for Latinas to experience microaggressions from whites who do not even realizing they are sending such signals, though at the same time Latinas could project microaggressions towards others, too. Thus, the road of power and privilege is a two-way street. In this paper, I will describe an instance in which I as a female Latina experienced discrimination and an instance in which I was the perpetrator of discrimination.
An Instance of Discrimination
For me, an instance of discrimination occurred when I was in my early teens. I was with a group of girlfriends at a clothing store when suddenly a woman began shouting that her wallet had been stolen. The woman was a middle-aged white women and she got everyone’s attention quickly. My friends and I were already heading towards the door when she starting yelling and we did not see any reason we should stay, but a security guard swooped down from nowhere and yelled at us that we could not leave. All of a sudden we were suspects in a crime and I could not help but feel that it was because we were the only ethnic people in the store. All suspicion fell upon us because we were young, different from the others, ethnically a minority, and therefore the obvious culprits. We were all offended by the implied accusation, and everyone looked at us like of course we were the guilty party.
It was very humiliating to have to stand there while the security guard went about gathering the facts of the case. The other women in the store gave us accusing glances. We were all Latinas and none of us had even been anywhere near the woman who had lost her wallet. A clerk came over and asked us to empty our purses. That was the most offensive thing, and we all refused. We did not feel like anyone had any rate to look through our things without our permission, and we did not like being made to feel as though we were the thief. I felt very much that we were being suspected because of our ethnicity, but it might also have been due to our age. Nonetheless, it was offensive and I felt like I was being discriminated against in a hateful way.
When we refused to hand over our purses the situation became even more tense and hostile. First, the security guard came over and started threatening to call the police and assured us all that stealing would land us all in jail (even though we were juveniles and thus would not have even gone to jail). Then he started asking us if we used drugs or were selling drugs and suggested that maybe our boyfriends were drug dealers and that we were going to go find them. Then the situation began to escalate out of control as others began to suggest that we might not even be legal citizens. This got the guard’s attention and he began pressuring us to prove our citizenship. All of a sudden it was as if we were being accused of every crime in the book.
Then as suddenly as it all started, it ended. The white middle-aged woman who raised the alarm now cried out with a laugh, “Oh, here it is!” and pulled her wallet out of another bag in her cart. Everyone acted so pleased by all of this and turned their attention away from us as though nothing had even happened that we were all stunned and did not even know what to do or say. To this day, I have never gone back in that store because of the humiliation I experienced. To me the place seems like a white space, and I now try to stick to whatever Latina space I can find as that is where I feel safest. Unfortunately, Flores and Garcia (2009) have shown that many Latinas feel this way in predominantly white places.
Perpetrating Discrimination
I have also been on the other hand of discrimination, meaning that I have perpetrated it. This occurred when I was a bit older. I was serving customers at the place where I worked and a line was beginning to form. It was a busy day and I was not in a very pleasant mood. The clientele was usually ethnic: Latino or black. But in walked a middle-aged white woman and I immediately thought back to that day when I and my friends had been accused of stealing. It was not the same woman, but she made me think of that woman, and I immediately had no kind feeling towards her. Behind her came two more middle-aged white women. I grew even angrier and resented their being in my presence. It was not rational or right, but I was mad that they were invading my space—a space that I thought I had carved out for myself.
Of course, the space was not mine and it was not carved out for me or for people of my ethnicity. It was a public café open to everyone and anyone. I was just bitter about that negative episode in the past and those bitter feelings remained with me. I felt them boiling up as these white women hung back and seemed to act like they could take enjoyment out of an environment that I enjoyed and wanted to be for me and others like me. I did not want these women acting like they had any right to it. It was not a good sentiment on my part, but that is the way I felt. I felt that I had been prejudiced against by people like them, and now I wanted to discriminate against them.
So what I did was this. Even though I saw them waiting their turn, I ignored them and waited on everyone but them. Even as customers came in behind them, I would take their order and pretend that the white women were not even there. It got to the point where the new customers coming in behind were even saying that the white women were probably next. That was when I had no choice but to acknowledge them. So I did and they placed their orders and tried to act friendly enough, but I did not meet their smiles with a smile. I was short and curt with them and my manager noticed my demeanor and had a talking to with me after the fact. I was not sorry at the time but later I was embarrassed by the way I had acted. These women had not done anything wrong to me. All I was seeing was their skin color and it reminded me of a negative experience so I projected my negative feelings onto them. As Warren (2014) notes, projections are often what prevent people from seeing the reality. I did not want to see these women as individuals. Instead I wanted to see them as some kind of enemy and I let these ugly feelings get the better of me.
When people experience discrimination, it makes it hard to forget it and they in turn feel justified in discriminating against others in return. It is like a vicious cycle, and it is very likely the case that my attitude rubbed these women the wrong way and gave them a bad opinion of Latinas. I would not doubt it if they in turn held a grudge against Latinas from that point on.
Conclusion
Power and privilege are nice things to have when you have them and they are sorely missed when they are taken away. It is not surprising that people should want power and privilege. Privilege today has taken on a negative connotation, but privilege is really an honor. For example, I was privileged to be able to work at that café and be able to serve others. It was an honor to do so and I was honored by being seen as one who could be trusted to do the job well. I dishonored myself when I violated my privilege and treated customers with disrespect and discrimination. I was taught not to envy people, and I think that the discourse about privilege today borders on getting people to envy what others have. I believe that envy is a vice and that privilege is not a bad thing in and of itself. I do not like to see, however, people who have been privileged to abuse that privilege. I think that is where the whole problem lies. When we honor our roles in life and treat others with respect, we show the world that we are honorable. It is when we lose sight of that honor that discrimination and prejudice can occur. I have been on both sides of that road and know from experience. The best way forward is to think more honorably at all times.
References
Barajas, H. L., & Ronnkvist, A. (2007). Racialized Space: Framing Latino and Latina Experience in Public Schools. Teachers College Record, 109(6), 1517-1538.
Flores, J., & Garcia, S. (2009). Latina testimonios: A reflexive, critical analysis of a ‘Latina space’at a predominantly White campus. Race Ethnicity and Education, 12(2), 155-172.
McCabe, J. (2009). Racial and gender microaggressions on a predominantly-White campus: Experiences of Black, Latina/o and White undergraduates. Race, Gender & Class, 133-151.
Zamudio, M. M., & Lichter, M. I. (2008). Bad attitudes and good soldiers: Soft skills as a code for tractability in the hiring of immigrant Latina/os over native Blacks in the hotel industry. Social Problems, 55(4), 573-589.
Warren, C. S. (2014). Body area dissatisfaction in white, black and Latina female college students in the USA: an examination of racially salient appearance areas and ethnic identity. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 37(3), 537-556.