Identifying an Individual As an “Other”, Essay Example

Although I grew up in a somewhat diverse community, I would occasionally notice children getting left out on the basis of their race. A particular moment I noticed this occurrence was when I was in primary school and I was playing a game of catch with a group of my friends. One of my other friends, a young Hispanic girl, came over to ask if she could play the game with us. I didn’t mind her joining, but the rest of the group decided that adding an additional member to the game would ruin it. Therefore, I agreed with them and we continued the game. It wasn’t until several years later that I recognized that this girl was excluded on the basis of her race. Everyone playing the game before she asked to join was the same race as me and I now recognize that even though the group gave a different reason for her exclusion, they may have thought she wouldn’t be fun because she appeared to be physically different.

This scenario provides an excellent example of the excuses we make to justify racism and mistreatment of others. Even though I had a friendship with the young girl, I allowed the group to persuade me that she shouldn’t join our game. I didn’t realize that this exclusion was wrong immediately because the belief that adding an additional person to the game would ruin it seemed reasonable at the time. In reality, the group simply did not want to play with her and was not willing to give her a chance even though she was a nice girl.

Since I never questioned my childhood friend about this experience, I will never know how she felt about this situation. It is possible that she believed the group and found some activity to do and never thought about it again. On the other hand, it might have bothered her greatly and led her to think that there was something wrong with her. Ultimately, however, it is likely that she has experienced this type of exclusion in her adult life and it is necessary for us to understand the reasons behind the hateful things we do and say.

References

Etzioni A. (2002). Inventing Hispanics: A Diverse Minority Resists Being Labeled. Retrieved from http://www.brookings.edu/research/articles/2002/12/winter-immigration-etzioni