·
Brief
everyday indignities
·
May
be verbal, behavioral, or environmental
·
Are
communicated intentionally or unintentionally
·
Contains
an insulting message
·
Often
causes severe psychological stress and harm
When my brother was only 17 years old,
my mother and I brought him 2006 dodge magnum with rims to match the car. It
was his graduation gift. Since we brought him that car, he has been harassed
several times by police. One day when a police officer, pulled my brother over
and asked him, “How did you get a car like this? Are you selling drugs?” My
brother replied, “No! My mom and my sister brought it for me for a graduation
gift. Several times after that my brother was pulled over by the same police
officers for the same reason. It had gotten to the point that they were making
me angry because I knew who had brought the car, and I knew my brother was a
good kid. My mother and I went to the police station to talk to the captain
about the incidents that was happening to my brother. After talking to the
captain about the harassment it stopped, but the damage of racial profiling
stayed with my brother. He said, “They made me feel like he wasn’t supposed to
have a car like that because he was young and black.” He also said, “They made
me feel like I wasn’t anybody.” I believe my brother suffers from a severe
psychological stress because till, this day he doesn’t trust any police
officers. Most people who have authority, abuses it by mistreating people, and
that's not right. Police officers are supposed to protect and serve us, not to
harass and cause severe psychological stress and harm.
After that incident, with my brother, I
only trust police officers as far as I can throw them, and that’s not very far.
I do know that there are some exceptional police officers out there because I
have friends who are one, but I also know that there are some prejudice ones
out there, as well. My perception the effects of decimation and prejudice cause
severe damage to those who experiences it. Most people don’t forget when events
like that happen to them. I know my brother won’t and neither will I.
Reference
Laureate
Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010). Microaggression in everyday life. [Video webcast].
Retrieved from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com