Facing Discrimination- My Experience with Confrontation and Its Emotional Effects
Social prejudice advanced by categorizing ethnic communities based on their physical characteristics is the primary contributor to stress and anxiety in discriminated persons. Defining a person’s inherent traits, such as agility, intelligence, and strength, as lower because of the misguided perception that they belong to an “out-group” is wrong. Open or covert discrimination of individuals based on their hair, skin, and eye color or physique has played a role in the creation of communities that are depressed (Tyler, 2008). When people realize that their ability to secure jobs depends on the level of their “whiteness” or lack thereof, they become stressed and begin to loathe their genetic composition (TEDx Talks, 2015). In some societies, subconscious stereotyping of individuals causes the people perceived as outcasts to spend millions of dollars altering their physical bodies so as to be accepted by groups that perceive themselves as superior.
For the above reasons, I confronted an individual in a hotel setting who purposefully ignored a client who had ordered food because of their skin color. I had observed the discriminated person enter the restaurant and sit at a corner by themselves as if anticipating poor treatment. The customer then kept asking for a menu and was only served after everyone who supposedly was of “superior” skin color was attended to. I watched as the client skimmed over the menu hurriedly with fearful eyes and muttered their order in low tones while the waiter serving them stared disgustedly. Even one hour later, the customer had not been served, and waiters kept ignoring him. I felt angered and calmly walked to the counter and demanded to see the manager, who apologized profusely for the misunderstanding and suspended the waiter.
After this confrontation, the customer thanked me, and I knew that I had helped a frequently discriminated person from facing any more discrimination at the time. This act made me feel brave and seeing the man smile made me happy. Even if more efforts need to be put to eliminate discrimination, I believe every act to condemn it counts.
References
TEDx Talks. (2015, July 7). Let’s Talk About Race | Jennifer C.hernega | TEDx Trondheim [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rf8q-8gbfrw&t=159s
Tyler, S. (2008). Human Behavior and the Social Environment I. Commission on Accreditation
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Question 
Have you ever confronted or failed to confront someone you thought was expressing prejudice or discriminating?
Facing Discrimination- My Experience with Confrontation and Its Emotional Effects
Why did you confront (or not confront) that person, and how did doing so make you feel?