Personal Journal #4: 3.31.09

Anderson and Middleton: Article 19

1. I feel that someone is being discriminatory when you can easily distinguish the way they are interacting with one person is noticeably different from another person. After the saleswoman ignored Dr. Mock for the third time, helping a third customer before him, her actions are inexcusable.
2. I am impressed with the Asian American man's response to the situation; he kept his cool but also did not sit back and let injustice happen. Oftentimes large-scale justice attempts do not work as well as small-scale personal ventures to bring justice to personal matters.
3. The saleswoman was ignorant in the way in which she was treating the man. To her, she was justified in treating him differently from the other customers, which is an incorrect thought-process. The man wanted to practice what he preaches, since he is an "activist" of sorts, studying inequality in America and knowing the effects that is has on members of society and also having the right tools to combat the sentiment.
4. If I were the woman ally I would notify the manager of the way in which one of the employers treated a paying customer unfairly. I would testify all that I saw and the injustice that I witnessed. Since she is a member of the "agent" white group she possesses privileges that others may not.
5. The saleswoman may not have many interactions with Asian Americans and is umcomfortable with people different from her. Perhaps she was turned off as well by the trench coat, that he used for practical purposes.
6. I would want to tell the people who received mistreatment that I am sorry for the way that their humanity is questioned and that that's no way to be treated. A kind word and an interest towards someone's personal well-being speaks magnitudes, just as in the example with the Middle-Eastern woman and the Asian American man.