Henry Louis Gates, Jr.’s “What’s in a Name?” was an extremely emotional piece of literature. He wrote it to show people how hurt he was about his father, who was a well-respected man around his town, being called “George”. “George” was an infamous name that white people called all black people when they were discriminating against them. Gates hated that his father was put to a lower standard than he truly was by being called “George”.
Like Gates, I hate discrimination. When I was younger, I was discriminated against just like Gates’ father was. I was discriminated against for being Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Discrimination can take a toll on you and can leave you ran down to a point where you do not know if you can get back up.
When I was in 4th grade, I got diagnosed with ADHD. All the kids thought of me as the girl with the mental disease. They would run around screaming, “Don’t talk to her. Her disease will rub off on you.” I would sit in the corner with my best friend until eventually she started believing their rumors. I had never felt so lonely and hurt in my young life. The prejudice of the kids was one of the many reasons I switched schools.
After switching schools, the torment did not stop. It actually increased rapidly. I was on medicine to control my ADHD. It made me more zoned out than it controlled my attention and hyperactivity. The children would always laugh and point their fingers at me when this accorded. They would talk behind my back saying, “Its zombie girl. Don’t go towards her.” They would make these jokes until about lunch time when my medicine would wear off then they would see a side of me that was completely opposite.
When I went into middle school, my grades started to suffe...
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... activity with them and I have to tell them no because I still do not have my homework done. They look at me like I am crazy because I have a hard time paying attention while I am doing homework. I hear them talk about how I need to start thinking harder and start being more studious. People talk about how slow I am with my homework. So I started working every day, when I have free time, on my homework and focusing on just homework and nothing else so that the discrimination against my ADHD will be gone.
Gates’s father was discriminated against for being black and I was discriminated against for having ADHD. Prejudice words can hurt more than physical abuse can. It take a toll on the person that is going through the prejudice. It can change how you towards yourself and can make it hard for the person to know who they really are. Prejudice is hurtful and cruel.
Prejudice can be defined as any preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience, 2. Harm or injury that results or may result from some action or judgment, and due in part to the first Amendment, which gave all Americans the right of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition, many Americans believe they have the right to verbally judge whomever and whatever they seem fit, to no extent. However these same American underestimate the impact prejudice can have on a person’s body and mind because as we all know prejudice grows. Prejudice can also affect all phases of life: the past, the present, and the future. Maya Angelou said, “ Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future and renders the present inaccessible.
Prejudice is just a word until a book or movie puts pictures in your mind. In Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry and Mississippi Burning, there are several scenes that have an impact on me. Both stories tell how badly the black families of Mississippi were treated, and they show how they suffered through it and came out the other end with courage and honor. It also tells how unfair the white men were to the blacks, inside and outside of the courtroom. Prejudice is an ugly subject, and is still taught today. The horrible things that the white man did to the colored man make me realize how ignorance certainly is bliss.
Prejudice is an unfavorable opinion or feeling, formed beforehand (e.g., before even meeting a person) based on non-personal characteristics (e.g., skin color, religious, gender). One form of prejudice is racism. Racism is negative attitudes and values held by people about other people based on their race. It is this attitude which causes one to discriminate against another. Discrimination is treating people unfavorably on the basis of race, color or sex. Prejudice and discrimination were prevalent in the 1950s and 1960s. This era was a time of hatred, a time of violence, a time when black people were colonized by the white colonizer, and it was a time of white-on-black racial violence. Because of this hatred, the whites discriminated against the blacks.
People are discriminated against because of their race and social position every day. This has been going on for hundreds of years. In Mexican White Boy, Danny and Uno were discriminated against by people around them for being different, but along the way of discovering themselves, they form an unbreakable friendship.
During my junior year of high school, I was transferred from the Boces Program to East Meadow High School. This was an exciting time in my life! I was finally going to attend classes with "hearing" students. So many emotions filled my head. I was happy but, on the other hand, I was scared. I thought these kids would tease me and not accept me for who I am. When I went into the classroom, every student looked at me as if I were different, but they liked me anyway. Much to my surprise, within a couple of days I had made friends. I quickly realized that they didn't think of or treat me as I were different. They saw me for who I am on the inside, not a person with hearing aids on the outside.
In this reading, the writer tells a story that proves how important a name is. Calling a person, a name that only identifies with their ethnicity means that all of them are the same goes for, no matter how respected they are in the community they are still identified as their race and discriminated against for it, the extra effort they put into their task may be extraordinary but they are still a certain race. In the story "What 's in a Name? “by Henry Louis Gates he writes that his father was well respected, a hard worker and middle class but he was still black. One’s name is not only part of their identity it is what makes them
Everyone at some point in time or another experiences discrimination; no one lives a sheltered enough life not to. As a society we need to admit that discrimination is present at all times and stop being so sensitive to how we are labeled or perceived. Pretending discrimination does not exists does not solve a problem, it makes it stronger. Until it is no big deal in the eyes of all involved it will still be an issue that no one is truly prepared to tackle due to the amount of hate that will then be heaped upon them. Dr. King’s example is also a tragic one, a man who preached love for all, equality for all, and a sense of the brotherhood of man, was gunned down by one man who didn’t agree with his views. So perhaps the individual approach will be the best for now as this shows us one man’s view changed a world and one man’s view ended a life.
Prejudice is an issue that cannot be easily avoided in today's society. It has and always will have a huge impact on the discrimination that some people face based on religion, appearance, background, mental/physical disabilities and etc.
Discrimination has always been there between blacks and whites. Since the 1800s where racial issues and differences started flourishing till today, we can still find people of different colors treated unequally. “[R]acial differences are more in the mind than in the genes. Thus we conclude superiority and inferiority associated with racial differences are often socially constructed to satisfy the socio-political agenda of the dominant group”(Heewon Chang,Timothy Dodd;2001;1).
Vivienne Ming once said, “Discrimination is not done by villains. It’s done by us.” Many do not recognize or acknowledge discrimination. Most of the time, individuals allow discrimination to be classified as bullying. However, true discrimination is real. It comes in various forms and it is the population’s job to be familiar with it and use that knowledge to destroy it. Racial, appearance-based, sexual, and religious discrimination all hugely affect friendships/relationships, the workplace, and society as a whole.
Simply Psychology.org illustrates a study on the human mind by Dr. Sigmund Freud which states, “A prejudiced son may not act of their attitude. Therefore, someone can be prejudiced towards a certain group, but not discriminate against them. Also, prejudice includes all three compotes of attitude (affective, behavioral and cognitive), whereas discrimination is just behavior” (Mcleod).The reality is, everybody is prejudiced, as Rauch argued. The crazy, obnoxiously liberal anti-prejudice people are prejudiced. To say somebody is prejudice is to say oneself is prejudice. It is very sad that they are unable to see that they are just creating a never-ending cycle of prejudice. It makes them prejudice to name someone else as prejudice, just as it makes someone prejudice to name someone else a “spic” or
From the reading I learned prejudice is when a person attaches negative emotion to a certain group of people that is not based on facts. Prejudice has two levels cognitive or affective where the cognitive is thinking and feeling prejudice while affecting is actually doing prejudice actions. Discrimination is also discussed in chapter one. Discrimination is unequal behavior or treatment of a person based on them being a member of a group. An example of discrimination would be not getting selected for a job because you are African
Overall discrimination is an awful thing. It is like a STD, it can be passed from parent to child, or someone can become infected if you don’t watch out. Discrimination is also like the plague. It sweeps over a large amount of people, infecting most, and most don’t survive. Though today much of the discrimination is gone, just like the plague, but it is still there. Unfortunately for some people, they have to deal with people discrimination from others. Whether it be discrimination of one’s race, age, disability, or gender. Discrimination has numerous damaging effects to someone’s life. In Of Mice and Men the unlucky victims of discrimination also suffer from the same effects. They allow for people to have control of them and walk all over them. Discrimination is like a fire... It hurts.
It is quite certain to say that discrimination can be deadly and can deprive a person from living a normal and happy life. Especially those with disability. Therefore, it is important for discriminatory practices to be avoided and dealt properly ones reported.. If these effects are dealt properly ,long term effects can be eliminated.
Discrimination is known to exist in all workplaces, sometimes it is too subtle to notice, and other times it is exceedingly obvious. It is known that everyone subconsciously discriminates, dependant on their own beliefs and environments that surround them. However, discrimination can be either positive or negative in their results, and sometimes discrimination is a necessary part of life.