Greater equity could have been achieved simply if the lady would have served us in the same manner as she did the previous customer. If the lady serving would have kept her nice and pleasant attitude this story would not have made my blog site.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression
As an Arabic-Muslim female I have experienced and witnessed many instances of bias, prejudice, and discrimination against my religion. Many people and especially in Switzerland still don’t respect diversity and people from other cultures and religions. I can recall an experience of bias and prejudice about two months ago when my parents in law came for a visit. My mother in law is also Muslim and she wears the scarf. My mother in law and I went into the mall to buy some stuff. When we arrived at the cashier desk to pay, there were two Swiss ladies who speak French in front of us and the cashier looked like she is also Swiss. She was very pleasant with them and this cashier in the past served me and she was always nice, but when my mother in law was with me and it was our turn to pay this lady was so mean and treated us in a very unpleasant way. My mother in law asked her if she speaks English, she replied in French in a very mean way: “No, instead of us making the effort to learn English, you guys have to learn French”, I told her with my little French that my mom in law is here as a tourist and I asked if she can put some stuff for me on hold and if she can help us find the appropriate sizes. She responded in a very mean way and she wasn’t smiling at all and treated us in a complete different way than the customers who were in front of us. She made it very obvious that she did not want to help us,she doesn't like people who are different than her, and that she had one attitude when helping the customers who spoke her language and had the same nationality as her, but a very nonchalant attitude when it came to helping us. Equity was diminished when she changed her attitude with us and we were not given equal service. I suspected that the only thing that made this cashier act like this is because we are Muslim and maybe she doesn't like Muslim people.
Greater equity could have been achieved simply if the lady would have served us in the same manner as she did the previous customer. If the lady serving would have kept her nice and pleasant attitude this story would not have made my blog site.
Greater equity could have been achieved simply if the lady would have served us in the same manner as she did the previous customer. If the lady serving would have kept her nice and pleasant attitude this story would not have made my blog site.
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Bouthaina:
ReplyDeleteI have compassion for you and your family. She obviously based her behavior and opinions on prejudice. Sometimes when I am in public, I am just going about my business and do not always catch when such behaviors happen to other people. This course and the sharing of such personal stories are helping me become so deeply aware and to become more vigilant.
Thank you for sharing,
LouAnn
Bouthania,
ReplyDeleteThe experience you and your mother-in-law had must have been very uncomfortable. It is distressing to know that the cashier outwardly showed such disrespect.
This course and experiences such as those you have shared make me want to speak out against microaggression and marginalization!
Thank you for sharing,
Teri
Good for you putting it on your blog...you are nicer than I would have been....a company name may have been put in there too! :O)....just a thought....would a nicely written email to the head of the company about your experience help raise their sense of awareness for cultural and diversity training for their employees? I worked in the corporate world outside of ECE for a while and it is amazing that cultural and linguistic diversity is not on the radar (with the exception of having the token "other race" on the payroll to avoid legal situations).
ReplyDeleteReading your post made me sad...like deeply sad with tears in my eyes. I could feel your anger and distress along with your mom-in-law. It made me sad for our country that is suppose to be the land of the free, the brave, the melting pot, the land of opportunity.....and when you see instances like this (which happen so very often) it flies in the face of what we say we are and what we stand for in the United States.
Bouthania,
ReplyDeleteWow!! I know you all were very hurted from her actions towards your religion. If I was in your shoes, I would have made sure she was fired and that she take a culture and diversity seminar class to teach her about respecting other cultures and religions. Everyone deserves respect!
This is very different from my culture. Last week I went to a store and the person was assisting me was very happy she can speak in her dominant language. I think this is not the proper way to face reality, if she have not learned English it was not your fault if she do not want to help just do not give her time to make her feel that you need her. They finally will learn, and it would be stuck in her head. You know Bonthaina consciousness is the best punishment. Next time move on, and let her be she realize this time you did give her a lesson even more, she needs a better one.
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