Discrimination

Discrimination. This is always a hard topic to discuss because people take it the wrong way. So, before we begin this blog post, I’m not trying to offend anyone; I am merely telling a story of discrimination from my personal experience. Discrimination is defined as “the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex.” Here I’ll be discussing a true story about the discrimination of race.

                If you’ve read my previous blog posts then you know I moved to Honduras from the United States when I was ten. I am a white, blue eyed, brown-blondish hair, freckled, short (about 5’4’’-ish), and thin, girl. Many people don’t think that white people can be discriminated; and I’m sorry if saying I’m white is racist but I’m not going into the topic of whether or not there is race or whatever. I am only telling my story. When I moved here I was stared at for the color of my skin, nothing else. I was looked at as if I was a new exhibit in the zoo and it was so weird. I have never been stared at in the States because we’re told since we are young that staring is rude. In Honduras, no one tells their kids not to stare, they join in. No matter where I went, people would openly stare. Sometimes you might see a mouth or two open wide in shock if you’re lucky. It’s such a weird feeling to be stared at like that. It’s not like we were little green people from Mars or something. On top of that there are quite a few white, blue-eyed, blonde-haired, Hondurans and they didn’t get stared at. Somehow people would just know that we were gringos (Americans).

                Being white also opened doors to the jacked-up prices at street vendor’s tables or mechanics shops. People apparently think that we’re walking ATMs because we’re white. We’ve had to ask our Honduran friends sometimes to go and ask for the price of such-and-such thing so we wouldn’t get the gringo price. I think I dislike this more than I dislike being stared at. I am not rich, not even close. We’re a missionary family and we might not be poor but we don’t walk around with money filling up our jean pockets. I don’t like when people assume I’m rich because I’m white. It’s not fair and there is no reasoning behind it. It’s especially hard when I’m here with my family to help people and people expect us to just dish out money because we’re white and apparently that’s what we do. I’m not angry because of this, it just stinks to be treated differently because I’m white and white equals money.

                Thankfully we were never persecuted for being white; we just weren’t treated the same way as Hondurans treated each other. I dislike it when people don’t think that white people are also discriminated. Yes, the black peoples have been treated awfully for a very, very long time. I’m horrified by what happens to this people group when they are the same as white people. They shouldn’t be discriminated because of the color of their skin and I hate hearing about another time when someone was discriminating someone else because he/she was black. However, I also dislike when now, when someone says that so-and-so was discriminated we assume that person was black and the person discriminating was white. That isn’t always the case. Or when someone is racist, he/she is going to be white. The reason why I’m saying the ‘colors’ that people are in this post is because that’s the way I’m going to describe someone. In Honduras, if you are white you’re called: chele, gringo, blanco, all words that mean white. When someone is black they are called negro (black), Chinese-looking/Asians are called chino or asiatico or sometimes amarillo (yellow), brown or what would be typical Honduran would be called trigueño (translated corn color, I always assumed it meant brownish) or indígeno (indigenous). Either way, I like how in Honduras people call you by what you look like. In the States all of these terms would be considered racist or rude. Here, it’s a way of describing a person. In my mind it makes sense, if you’re telling your friend about that guy in the movie who was white, black, brown, purple even, you’re going to say his color.

                In conclusion, it sucks to be discriminated but by just telling a person that, “He was white,” does not make what you said wrong. If I was to treat you differently because of that fact, then it would be wrong. We can’t be ‘colorblind’ to what’s going on. We also can’t get angry at people for saying the color of your skin. If you’re white then gosh darn it, that’s how people should be able to describe you. They shouldn’t have to avoid the topic of what color or ethnicity you are because it’s considered racist or discriminatory. Yes, I get treated differently because of my skin color but you know what, my friends call me gringa or they describe me starting with, “she’s white” or something along those lines. I’m white and that’s fine to call me such, to treat me differently because I’m white is not. If we want the problem of discrimination to go away, I believe we need to recognize that people look differently from us and that’s perfectly okay. We need to treat people all the same, we shouldn’t have to side-step differences in appearance because it’s “racist.” I should be able to describe a black person as such and a white person as such without the fear of being called racist. I won’t treat any person differently because their appearance is not the same as mine. I think this would be the best way to rid ourselves of racial discrimination. Becoming ‘colorblind’ won’t help. Calling people racists because they say he/she was black, white, pink, or purple won’t help. Complaining about the problem and not doing anything about it won’t help. Finally, saying that because I am blank color I’m treated worse than blank color won’t help. You want to help? Notice the problem and strive to treat people fairly and don’t become ‘colorblind.’

                Goodbye, until next time!