This past winter I went
to a tax place in Providence, RI to file my taxes. This was a place where one
of my friends referred me because they had a great experience and the service
pricing was attractive. Upon arriving I noticed that it was Hispanic oriented, which
made sense because my friend was Dominican. I knew that they served a large Spanish
population by the music they had playing and the clientele. Being here didn’t
bother me as my son is also of Hispanic descent and I enjoy the culture.
Upon arrival, the woman
at the front desk began speaking to me in Spanish. Although I could understand
what she was saying to me, I responded in English so she knew I was not Spanish.
As I was sitting in the waiting area I noticed many people coming into the
office and going right in to be seen. At the time, I figured maybe they had
appointments or they were there for different reasons. I waited almost an hour
to be seen. This was the longest hour of my life and I contemplated getting up
and leaving because it was becoming very awkward for me. Not one person spoke
to me; however, they all spoke amongst themselves. It was as if I were
invisible to all of these people.
When I finally got called
into the office, the man behind the desk seemed very kind. Finally, there was
someone in this place that smiled back at me! I provided all my information to
him and answered many of his questions. He then asked me where I was from. I thought
this was weird since my address was on my pay stubs and he already had all my
information, but then I realized he meant ethnicity wise. Thinking I was contributing
to the small talk, I explained I was half Cape Verdean and half White. At this
point, I felt like the man’s personality did a 360. He made rude comments about
how I probably thought I was better than everyone because of where I lived and
then started inappropriately questioning me. By the end of this awkward
encounter, I paid more than my Hispanic friend did for the same services and
left the office basically in tears.
After watching Hobson’s TED talk, in/visibility
had a new meaning for me. It means more than what you can physically see or not
see. It is being able to see someone and acknowledge them for who they are,
entirely, beyond skin color/race- because skin color is something everyone can
see, despite what they say. However, color should not define who someone is believed
to be. I believe the people I encountered when I filed my taxes placed
judgements on me because I was different than they were. I agree with Hobson in
that being “color blind” is ineffective. To be color brave speaks volumes and
is much more courageous. This way of thinking is positive and uplifting. It
also supports all different kinds of people and who they aspire to be.
Youth in Action is a safe
place where young people, many of which are minorities, can gather together and
express themselves with proper guidance. They are encouraged to follow their
dreams and taught to be who they desire to be. I believe this is an antidote
for invisibility because they are being taught how to be color brave rather
than color blind. They believe in themselves and each other rather than falling
into the traps of a biased belief.
Thank you for sharing your experience with us!! And your insight on invisibility was awesome.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your experience with invisibility and how you felt was really empowering. It's like people have to go through these things every day and it is so sad that some people are are color blind and not color brave But I think each experience in our lives just make us stronger and this Tedtalk by Mellody Hobson really shows that we must be color brave first and hopefully people will get it and follow along so these uncomfortable experience do not occur any longer.
ReplyDeleteI'm really glad you shared your story because sometimes we don't really believe that things like this actually happen until it does.. it's so sad and I'm sorry you had to go through that :/
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, Cassondra.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing for your experience.
ReplyDelete