Reverse Prejudice in the U.S.

Though this is a controversial subject I feel that it is something that is greatly seen in many different environments in the United States. Though it changes in some diversity amongst different cultural settings, as well as rural versus the metropolitan areas; it still exists as a problem.

I grew up in a rural area, where the minority included one black individual. Yes, one black individual attended my high school. In statistics, he was the only minority that was in the area.

How was he treated?

In school he was treated as one of us, just the same as all of us. Though when he first came into the school, he acted as if he was armed and ready, but placed in some settings, he more than likely would have needed to be ready for whatever was handed to him.

A group of friends and I decided that we were going to go out to eat at one of the very small town cafés and just as it seemed natural, he went with us. As soon as we entered this café of a town of only 100, if that, we were not waited on. We sat for a good half an hour, as the waitress stared at us and whispered to the cook about us as a group. When it was evident that the waitress was not busy as there was no other customers in the café, I became impatient and rather upset.

“Can we get our order taken over here?” I hollered.

She hurried over to the table and began to take everyone’s order, everyone but our friend. He sat with his head down, and looked so upset that I feared he’d cry. It greatly upset me when she “forgot” to take his order. So, I told her she’d forgotten to take an order.

He made his order, and it was wrong when it came to the table. He told me to be quiet and not to make a large scene over the situation, but I am not that kind of person. I made her do it right.

This was when I was sixteen years of age; I had never seen the city life except to shop on occasion. I didn’t know what this boy knew. I didn’t know that some just took it, and felt they had to take it to keep peace.

Though, this is what we all think of when we think of prejudice, but there is much more to the spectrum of the amount of prejudice that exists today.

Let us talk about Prejudice of the Handicapped. This one is another one that should see zero tolerance amongst the crowds of the public. An individual walks into Wal-Mart with a cane, and a large limp. They forgo the powered cart, to keep going as they go on their way, walking with the assistance of a cane or crutches.

During my time of researching for this subject, I have spoken with many individuals that stated that Wal-Mart was noticeably prejudiced against them because of their handicap that is physically noticeable.

Over five sets of individuals made mention to me of their accounts that had happened in different stores of Wal-Mart across the state of Iowa. The statement included the status of their checking account. On more than six occasions that made recollection about how they were treated about their identification compared to their non handicapped spouses.

Spouse 1 from complaint 1, said that when she went into the Wal-Mart store with her husband’s check, she was not asked for any farther identification. However, when the same individual went into the store with their own check, they were asked for numerous versions of identification.

Spouse 2 from Complaint 2, also stated the same story. The story was comparable to the five complaints that were brought to me.

I asked to test their theory out, attended one of the spouses that had the check for her spouse that entered the Creston, Iowa Wal-Mart. The cashier looked at the check for $50.00, and finished with the transaction, not once asking for the identification of the spouse.

The spouse then went into the Wal-Mart, and I attended the stroll with them in turn. They were asked for proper identification for a check that was for the amount of $10.00. It was then that I made my inquiry. I had assumed that it had been the amount of the check that had been the issue, and they individuals were misunderstanding the situation of the amount the check was written for discriminating prejudice. I saw then that they had indeed an issue with prejudice on their hands.

The same proved correct in Davenport, Iowa Wal-Mart as well.

Now, I would like to explain another problem that not many of us really hear much about and that is reverse prejudice.

What is reverse prejudice?

I hadn’t heard it until a white male sent me an email complaining that his female boss paid all the women higher income then the men. It was then that I learned what reverse prejudice meant, it means when the normal typical book type case scenario of discriminating prejudice is handled in a manner that is overly protective of terms that it begins to hinder an individual that is usually non discriminated against or rather a white male.

White men are very seldom discriminated against in the workforce.

Why?

White men have been the pillar of the workforce for many numerous years, the first to be hired, the last to be fired or sent home. Now, we are seeing this changing. They are at times, the last to be hired as there is a certain amount of ethnics that must be hired. This individual had told me about the “chance” the employer had told him she was making when she first hired him.

She explained at his interview, that she was taking a chance on hiring him because, she had already had the set amount of white males that her company had to hire and stated that women were worth more in her eyes.

This individual handed me paycheck stubs to show the amount of hours that he worked while he was working for the white male supervisor at the company, and then the pay check stubs in comparison to when he worked under a white female supervisor. The comments or the reviews were drastically different. Though it was obvious from both supervisors that the white man was very dedicated to his company, he was not as valuable to the company as the white female that was his counterpart.

The white female as his counterpart, made one dollar more an hour that the white male did. The white male also performed 70% of the job duties. The white male also would do some of the work that the white female did not do correctly as to keep the company under good standards with the contract with another company.

Yet, the white male was discriminated against when told that he was not worth as much as a white female, and that women were worth more in the company than white males. She did not care how a white male felt, and would side with a white female or female at all times. Women had to stick together.

The boss went on to state that she would be hiring another white women the following day, and she too would be hired at more than the white male was originally as start out pay. The white male ended up quitting his job as the discrimination became apparent that he would not be rewarded for dedication to the company.

The white male sought legal assistance and was told that reverse prejudice is one of the hardest to prove as it is not a regular case scenario. The individual asked that the company remain anonymous, as he is filing a discrimination report at a state level.

How do we over come the many cases of prejudice?

We need to place ourselves in another’s shoes. Think before we act, think before we speak and if you can not think before you spout off a racial slur, then read some history books! Take a look at history and how we treat each other now, and how humans have treated each other for years, centuries, and through generation after generation.

Has anything changed? Or has it just been that they sat quietly with their head down to avoid any more conflicts?

Unfortunately, I think it’s the later, and too many individuals do not stand up for their rights as being equal. Too bad that it was Thomas Jefferson’s words that stand out in my mind, “All men are created equal.

In some feminist terms, that is not equal statement either, as they are not men, they are women.

But we can go on and on about the rate of prejudice and discrimination in the world.