Unpleasant Experience due to Race - Report Example

Your full April 7, Interviews Interviewer: Please describe your racial identity. Interviewee Martha): I am Martha Jones, and I was born in the United States of America. Racially, I am an African American as both of my parents are of African descent. I have lived all my life in America, have studied here, and now am doing a job in a bank located nearby my house. I am unmarried, and live with my boyfriend, Adam, who is also an African American. We are planning to start family life soon as both of us earn well enough to support ourselves. I have done graduation in business management, and am not planning to study further because I cannot bear the discriminatory behavior the teachers show at white dominant institutes. I don’t say that all teachers do discrimination, but I have had a couple of very bad experiences. Interviewee 2 (Priyanka): My name is Priyanka Siddhartha. I belong to India, and have migrated to America some years back to gain higher education. I completed my master’s degree in computer science last year, and am currently working in collaboration with a software house, and am earning well enough. My parents live in India, and I also support them financially. I am their eldest daughter. I am not married, but plan to get married soon with an Indian boy my parents have chosen for me back there in India. He will migrate to America after marriage. As I am an Asian, I happen to be a minority here in America. Interviewer: How important is your racial identity to you? Please describe any positive or negative experience you have had with your racial identity. Martha: As with every person, my racial identity is very important to me as it is the identity I am born with. But sometimes, I don’t feel too much proud of my racial identity. People’s behavior toward me and toward others like me makes me think that I would have better be born American or English. My parents have been through much discriminatory behavior throughout their lives. I, thanks to the anti-discriminatory laws that have been passed in recent years, have not been a severe victim of discrimination, but still I have felt that I am not treated the way I should. Whites think of me as inferior. I have seen mothers of white children forbidding them to play with me. This behavior makes me feel very grieved. Priyanka: My racial identity is very important to me. I am an Asian, and Asians are very proud of their racial identities. I have been a victim of discriminatory behavior at a few places in America, but I would rather die in love of my racial identity than feeling demeaned. I understand that minorities have always faced this kind of behavior from the historically dominant group here in America, so I have accepted the fact that I am not a preferred choice when I apply for a job. But, the law that protects minorities’ rights in employment opportunities has seriously advantaged me; and, I thank the government for taking such steps that motivate the minority races to perform like other citizens. Interviewer: Are there any certain groups you identify with or don’t identify with? Martha: I can identify with other minority groups that live in my neighborhood and work at my workplace. I have always been friends with Chinese Americans, Asian Americans, and Asians. We all suffer from the same kind of discriminatory behavior, and therefore, we share with each other our experiences. I don’t identify with American citizens too much, although I have been born in America, nor do I identify with Englishmen or Europeans. This is because I am very sensitive in nature, and any kind of demeaning behavior of others toward me puts me off. The college where I studied had many students belonging to Sri Lanka, China, Singapore, Pakistan and India. I used to identify with these people more than the white students. Priyanka: Yes, I can identify with Pakistani nationals that have come abroad to seek higher education or for employment purposes. I can also identify with Chinese and Iranians, because they belong to my neighboring countries. I feel a kind of bondage with these people, which is so strong that I feel that we all belong to the same race. I can also identify with African Americans that I have studied and have worked with, because of our dark complexions, and also because we belong to the minority groups. I don’t identify with the Americans belong I feel a sort of strange bondage with them, may be because we don’t happen to understand each other quite well. Interviewer: Please describe your social network. Martha: I am not a very friendly person, as I am an introvert and not very social. However, I have a couple of school friends that are still in contact with me online and via phone. I happen to meet them once or twice in a year. They are all African Americans. I use online social networks, but I am very choosy in making friends, and so, I have very few friends on online social networks as well. As I mentioned earlier, I cannot stand the demeaning behavior of people toward my racial identity, and so, I prefer keeping to myself. This sensitivity has kept me from making many friends, but sometimes I feel lonely. I only share my feelings with my boyfriend whom I live with, as he understands what minority people suffer from. Priyanka: My social network is very large. I have a good number of friends that I am in contact with via Facebook. They include my childhood friends, and friends from my school, college and university. I have also added my relatives in my friends’ list as I like to keep in touch with people. My social network includes my neighbors and my coworkers as well. I feel like being surrounded with love and affection due to my social network. I don’t feel lonely. I feel at home, as if I am in my own country surrounded by my very own people. My friends are my life, and they include people from all races. They include Americans, African Americans, Japanese, Chinese, Sri Lankans, and Pakistanis. I love them all. Interviewer: How has your experience been in employment? Martha: When I was looking for employment, I was not able to find a job because whites were preferred everywhere. Employers preferred white candidates. I faced very hard time finding a job of my choice; but finally, I was able to find a good post that matched my competencies. Thanks to the regulations passed in the favor of minorities, I was appointed as an assistant HR manager. I am now earning well enough to support myself. I have never suffered from any kind of sexual or racial harassment since I started my job because my company is very strict with regard to harassment. Priyanka: My employment experience has been great. The company that I work with treats its employees with great respect, no matter which race or ethnicity they belong to. I have made many friends at my workplace. I never experienced any kind of harassment. All the coworkers are very cooperative and friendly. The working hours are quite long, which makes me tired many times, but I still love my job as the workplace is free of stress. The employer is very respectful toward women. He gives special preference to minority groups in every project. Hence, my employment experience has been very good so far. Read More