Journal Writing #4

Prompt
What are your biases and how do you mitigate your behavior when working with students?

My Biases
Throughout my entire life I have recognized that all people have biases to other races, religions, colors and creeds. As a young man I never thought I had biases. However upon recent reflection I have realized that I do maintain biases but have come to accept them as part of the human condition. While admitting and recognizing I have biases was a challenge the greater challenge will be working with students without acting on those biases.

When I was in middle school I took part in a summer program that prepared me for college. During the program my group mates and I were taken to the Holocaust Museum in Los Angeles. As a lover of World War II I was extremely excited about the experience. During the tour of the museum our tour guide brought us to two doors. The guide asked us to individual select which door to pass through. On the left was the door for those students who had prejudices and the door on the right was for those who did not. I automatically approached the door on the left alone and attempted to open in. However it did not move. Our tour guide explained that all people have prejudices and therefore must enter the door on the right. This experience greatly affected me because I never felt I had prejudices. After all I was the only Asian Indian in my school and was close friends with whites, Hispanics, black and Asians. My parents were both well educated and never spoke negatively about any person, except perhaps Republicans. I eventually forgot the experience for a while but it would continue to reappear throughout my high school and college life.

As I grew older I continuously looked back on that experience at the Holocaust Museum. While I now realize I maintain some stereotypes I know I never judge an individual on them nor act upon them. The only strong prejudgment I have ever made towards a group of people was against Pakistanis. As an Asian Indian who loves his heritage and history I, in many ways and for many reasons, despise Pakistanis for destroying the Indian subcontinent. However when I enter the classroom and realize I have a Pakistani as a student I will not look at him any differently because I always remember it was the founders of Pakistan who destroyed the subcontinent, not a sixteen year old girl in my class.

I do admit I have prejudices today, something I could not realize in middle school. However many of the prejudices are as a result of my knowledge of history. For example, I dislike the Zionists for taking land from Palestine. However as a historian I continuously remind myself that no student is responsible for their ancestors mistakes so I cannot hold them accountable.