Discrimination Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Discrimination - Essay Example Being of the minority of Chinese descent living in the United States, I am often subjected to racial discrimination on matters that might not even relate to me personally. Such prejudice is a result of the generalized misconceptions (Ruchlis 2) that people have fostered about the Chinese population in the United States, and I often fall victim to such stereotypic prejudice (Ruchlis 1). Working as a cashier in a store, one day I was faced with a situation in which a white lady made a ride remark about my ethnicity. Our store has a policy that customers can only use a card to make a purchase if the bill amounts to a minimum of three dollars. This lady bought a lollipop and wanted to make the payment through a credit card. I politely explained to her that this was not possible since her transaction did not amount to the minimum set by our store manager. Instead of trying to abide by this rule, she commented that such a behavior was typical of â€Å"you Chinese people†. I was disa ppointed and heartbroken by this comment, as it was not my fault and I had no way of assisting her. Nevertheless, I was viewed as a troublemaker for the customers just because of my ethnicity. I feel that had the cashier been a white native, he or she would not have been subjected to such comments by the same customer. This is an example of the social prejudice that people nurture in their hearts when they have too little information about a group of people whom they have to deal with on a daily basis (Ruchlis 2).... This discrimination, according to Ruchlis, forms the third level of social prejudice (8). On the other hand, I sometimes act as a perpetrator, too, practicing social discrimination and prejudice against certain groups of people that I either do not like or do not feel comfortable with. I have often held a negative view about the black population of the area that I live and work in. Some of this discrimination has resulted due to unpleasant experiences that I have had with that group (Ruchlis 2), and those feelings of resentment have been augmented by the general views of my friends and the people around me about the black populace (Ruchlis 4). I generally believe them to be rude and stingy, and although I am well aware that holding such negative notions about a community in general is faulty on my part (Ruchlis 3), I still keep on harboring such feelings. For instance, just recently a black lady came to our store to buy groceries. It was the first time she had come, so she needed som e directions as to the location of certain items and some help with choosing among the options. Although I assisted her, my manner was very rude. I did not address her as â€Å"ma’am† or â€Å"lady†, rather I answered her questions in merely â€Å"yes† and â€Å"no†, and overall had a very exasperated air to me. Thinking that she would be so stingy as to deny me any tip for assisting her, I did not put my best foot forward, and did not give her my best advice. Nevertheless, she was very sweet of me, and on her way out at the counter, she gave me a handsome compensation for helping her, which was very surprising for me. She has not visited the store since then, so