The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression
Josephine Diete-Spif
Walden University
An Incident of
Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression
The words bias, prejudice, and oppression connote the inflicting of
injustice on people due to no fault of theirs and society allows such.
Derman-Sparks and Edwards (2010) explain bias as behavior or feeling from an
unjust position that supports a negative attitude to a person or group because
of their identity (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010). Prejudice on the other hand
results from a preconceived judgment, unconfirmed negative report against a
person, race, or gender (Herek, 2012). While oppression is the exercise of
authority or advantage over a person or group to the advantage of another
(Delphy, 2016; Thompson, 2017), as seen in my case.
The incident of bias, prejudice, and
the oppression I experienced happened in my Kingdom, Twon Brass, Bayelsa State.
Nigeria, in 2010. 2011 was an electoral year in my State, and 2010 was
preparations, campaigns, and the primaries for the elections. I had inspiration from over 2000
members of my foundation of widows, physically challenged, the aged, and
well-wishers across the State to contest the election that year. Equally, I believed I would serve humanity better if elected into office.
Thus, I scheduled a campaign date to
kick-start my election movement in my kingdom, as Nigeria elections are
grassroots-based, and my domain was part of my constituency. I invited people,
cooked and decorated the venue. I did spend money on the exercise, but sadly
that day turned out as the worse day of my life. My kingdom is in units of
five houses, and each house is headed by a royal highness, who are members of
the king's council and installed by the king. I was the queen before the present set of
royal highnesses became installed, and I was also present in their
installation, and they did pay allegiance to me at that time.
However, one of the royal highness
who up until date still shows animosity against me because I am a woman and not
originally from that kingdom; a racist and sexist behavior (Delphy, 2016) sent the youths to disrupt my
campaign. The youths came in their numbers after receiving stipends from this
royal highness and embarrassed me, turned the venue upside down, drove away the
people that had shown up for the event, and pulled down the decorations.
Conversely, he allowed other male contestants to campaign in the domain. I was
embarrassed and oppressed. It was a case of jealousy portraying bias and
prejudice.
Ways the Incident Diminished Equity
The incident diminished equity in
diverse ways. There were discrimination and a lack of fairness against me
because of my race and gender. Accordingly, Derman-Sparks and Edwards (2010)
define racism as an individual or a group behavior supported by an authority
that demoralizes the human, legal, and economic rights of a person or persons
because of their physical appearance, and their group culture. For instance, my
tribe is different from my oppressor-the royal highness and the youths he sent
chanted that I should go back to my land that I am not one of them. Other male
counterparts contesting in the same elections were allowed to campaign with no problems, and to cap it up, the governor at
that time told me to forget the idea since a man has already shown interest in
the same position.
Incident Feelings and Reaction
I was livid, resentful
and I reacted by leaving the kingdom alone. My husband, the king, took it in his stride and
advised me to be calm. I did curse in my anger and decided to sever the
relationship with the people of my kingdom, which I did at that time and went
back to school to study for my masters and doctorate. I was away for five years,
in which period
I only attended functions in the
cities. I kept up the work with my foundation, manage my business alongside
studying, and forgot about my kingdom. However, I soon realized that it was all
a calculated attempt to drive me away from the domain and to impoverish my
people. Nonetheless, coupled with the persistent call for my return by the people,
especially the same youths apologizing for their misbehavior and confessing and
revealing their sponsor. I forgave them and went back after my doctorate
convocation.
Incident Becomes an Opportunity
One of my meetings with my women.
I came back with a bang, realizing the change required for positive growth must begin with me. At the time I returned, there was severe unrest. There were warring factions, kidnappings, killings, and death. My first move was to wade in and settle the disputes among the warring factions, and I succeeded. The second was to assist my people, which I did by giving scholarships to five children in my school for six years.
Currently, I have 25 of them learning
in my school with everything paid up. I went further to donate chairs to the
community secondary school because the children were sitting on the floor or
dilapidated school desk. In collaboration with the host company, they procured
a cold room for the women and initiated an empowerment scheme, which is ongoing,
among others. I made up my mind to make the people my focus, and today my
magnanimity is being felt by the aged, men, women, youths, and children.
The animosity from the royal highness is ongoing, I see him trying to instigate others against me, but he's
no longer successful because the people know better and I ignore him totally. I also have since been fulfilled, honored across the nation, and at
peace with my people and myself. My primary preoccupation is towards the
wellbeing of my people and my domain. A vast majority of them are appreciative
of my every move to include them in my empowerment scheme.
Conclusion
I am excited to recount my ordeal in
this assignment. I feel this has taken the load off my shoulders, and I can
breathe easy. My philosophy remains "carry out a random act of kindness,
with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might
do the same for you." "Family is the most important thing in the world."
"I don't go by the rule book ... I lead from the heart, not the
head." – Diana Princess of Wales
References
Delphy, C. (2016). Close to home:
A materialist analysis of women's oppression. Verso Books. http://dmgreene.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Delphy-1978-Housework-or-Domestic-Work-1.pdf
Derman-Sparks, L.
& Edwards, J. O. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and
ourselves. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of
Young Children (NAEYC).
Herek, G.
M. (2012). Definitions: Hemophobia, heterosexism, and sexual prejudice.
Retrieved from https://psychology.ucdavis.edu/rainbow/html/prej_defn.html
Thompson, N. (2017). Promoting
equality: Challenging discrimination and oppression. Macmillan International
Higher Education.
Dear Lady Josephine,
ReplyDeleteI am "wowed" with your experiences! I watch them in the movies and now I am really connecting live. Thank you for sharing. If God has good plans for you, no human can turned it over. You are really a living legend in your State and Kingdom, God bless you for the good work you are doing to help the needy. The issue of ethnocentrism in my community is so high that people from the south wouldn't like to marry from the north. You have a great husband who understands diversity. I am happy for the fact that You could turn your bias, prejudice, and oppressions moments to opportunities. I like your philosophy, it really works for me too. God bless you!
Best Regards,
Martha
Dear Martha,
DeleteA million thanks for your kind words. I am glad to share and have this off my chest. It has been there for far too long. Thanks for all the encouragement. I appreciate your comments. I can relate to the ethnocentrism, as some people always feel that their culture is more superior to others, which is not correct (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010). The world will indeed be a better place if we keep bias, prejudice, and oppression aside, and people learn to embrace diversity. It beholds us as childhood professionals to brace the trail. Thanks again for your kind comments and God bless you.
References
Derman-Sparks, L. & Edwards, J. O. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).
Best Regards,
Queen Josephine
Wow what an experience! I respect that you tried to fight against that prejudices and I'm sorry for the judgement and oppression you felt. It sounds like your efforts weren't appreciated or validated as they should have been. Iam in awe that you are able to come back after such experiences "with a bang" and still have confidence and power behind your words. Good for you!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your kind comments. Life is a battle, only the brave survive. God bless you.
ReplyDelete