I am a Western White Male, I really haven't experienced any prejudice directed towards me in my life. Last week I had a little taste. I was rejected for something I wanted to do, because of something I have no control over. I was authentic and honest in my inquiries and that honesty was responded to with prejudice.
As I reflected on this over the weekend I realized that these people are not rejecting me because of who I am they are rejecting me because of who they are.
This encourages me to look at my own life and who I am prejudiced against and see what they have to teach me about who I am.
1 comment:
Peter: Thanks for the thoughtful post.
It makes me remember the only time in my life where I felt the sting of prejudice (how blessed I have been). While working as the ED at Unity church in Houston I called a certain Christian marketing company to place a rather large order of pre-printed fliers and banners for a new program we were starting. When the person on the line asked me what church I was from I told her Unity Church of Christianity in Houston. Well she shut the whole thing down and said that they would not be able to fulfill my order. Apparently we were not "Christian enough" for these particular Christians. I remember my face feeling flushed and my whole body experiencing a physical sensation of sickness. It was awful. The sting lasted for several days.
I too became much more conscious of how I might be rejecting people based on my biases.
Prejudice is truly an ugly thing as it keeps us from seeing and knowing the beauty that is within each person.
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