The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

As an African-American woman, I have experiences bias, prejudice, and oppression throughout my life. It happens so often that I try to ignore it and those that do it. Through this course, I have a better understanding of who I am and why some people think the way they do. 

In thinking about an incident, I thought about one that has truly shaped who I am. One’s name is the first identity of one’s self. This particular incident has shaped my opinion of names forever.

 In third grade, I had an older African-American woman as my teacher. The first day of school, she asked me my name. I stated, “Trinecia”. She asked for me to say it again. I did but slower. She looked at me and said, “No, I can’t say that. I will have to call you by your last name. I can’t understand why y’all can’t have simple old-fashion names”. This experience made me feel hurt and ashamed of my name. It made me believe that not only was my name wrong but my parents were wrong in naming me. I remember after this experience wanted others to call me by my middle name, Michelle. I thought that I would be accepted easier that way. Looking back, it did not change how people perceived or accepted me. In high school, I learned to embrace my name, the uniqueness of it, and who I am because of it. 

Until this course, I did not think that this incident impacted me as such. It influenced my choice in my children’s names and my perception of others that chose ‘unique’ names for their children. This is a bias that I am still trying to overcome. 

As I move forward, I think that this teacher should have respected me enough to learn my name. This is my identity. As a professional, I realize the importance of a name and try to value each child’s differences by first learning their name. This is a defining character of one’s identity, as an individual.