Bias, what is it? by Lisa Burnette

msburnette13_ — 2023-12-02 21:43:14 UTC

first week of freshman year of college

a white girl from a dorm room across the hall from me starts talking about the James Scholar Honors awarded to some students upon acceptance to the university.
Me: “yeah I am a James Scholar, actually”
Her: shocked “Oh really? Is it because you are Hispanic?”

I graduated at the top of my high school class, with extracurricular activities in music, sports and philanthropy with several leadership positions.

We are both sophomores now and I have a higher GPA than her, but she still questions how I get my (merit-based) scholarships and honors.

msburnette13_ — 2023-12-02 21:44:46 UTC

My English prof told us he didn’t think “derogatory language” directed at LGBTQ students counted as bullying, because it wasn’t physical abuse. His tone when he said it made me want to hide under the desk. It’s like he thinks we should be grateful when it’s ONLY derogatory language, because hey, at least we’re not getting beat up, right? This is the same prof who made a point of telling us singular they/them pronouns were only “technically” correct now because of “an effort to be more inclusive,” and that we should use “he or she” instead whenever possible.

msburnette13_ — 2023-12-02 21:45:55 UTC

It angers me when people measure my race by the way I talk, dress, and carry myself. It’s as if black women can’t possibly be educated and come from a family with both parents. What sucks the most is that my close friends still say comments like “you’re not really black,” or “but they’re the other kind of black girls.” Can someone please tell me what other black there is?

"All immigrants should go back to their countries!!"

msburnette13_ — 2023-12-02 21:47:38 UTC

My white American gay classmate to another fellow classmate, who was an immigrant from Poland. It made me, another immigrant, feel shocked because he himself was ridiculed all the time, and I did not expect him to stoop down to the level of his prejudiced, homophobic peers. It made me feel worried, marginalized, unwelcome, nauseous and rejected.