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PREJUDICE-REDUCING
EXPERIENCE
Luci
BACKGROUND
Sex: female
Ethnicity:Caucasian
Born in: Brigham
City, Utah
Parents born in: Utah
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 I
was raised in a very white, conservative, small town
community. My parents taught us strong moral values and were
devoutly religious. Growing up in a large family, we were
taught to be self-sufficient and hardworking. I thought
everyone else’s life was just like mine, and had little
exposure to other cultures or ethnic groups.
Throughout my early childhood, my father was employed by the
Bureau of Indian Affairs. He was the maintenance/repair man
for the Intermountain Indian School, a boarding school for
Native Americans of high school age.Each day he would come
home muttering something about those "dumb, lazy Indians."
Every story he told, or comment he made a bout his job, was
prefaced with the phrase&endash;"dumb, lazy…" He would
come home each day for lunch, before I started school, I was
filled with negative stories of Native American people. I
saw them in the community throughout my youth, and I always
eyed them with suspicion and distaste. If I saw them in the
store or on the street, I would avoid them. They made me
uncomfortable and afraid. Last year I made acquaintance with
an intelligent, capable woman and we soon became good
friends. Her husband was serving in the military and
therefore, she and her children spent a lot of time with our
family. She spoke incessantly of her husband, Norm, who
would soon return home. Finally, we met Norm. He was a
full-blooded Navajo Indian and a certified flight engineer!
Over the next year, I came to know and love this man, my
prejudice against native American simply faded. They are
truly remarkable people.
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