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PREJUDICE-REDUCING EXPERIENCE BACKGROUND
Due to the fact that I was born in El Salvador, I see some things differently than the majority of people in the U.S. In my country, I spoke only Spanish. I learned a handful of words in English which I never had an opportunity to use. Because of my background, I see things differently. For example, I know what is like to be poor, to work at a young age, to be limited in the amount of food available, to accept the limited amount of attention and love I was given, to use money wisely, to save for what you want to buy, to see immigrants with compassion and to not have a mother close enough to turn to. When I arrived to the U.S., everything was new. I saw people of different races that I had never seen before. Many foods were very different than the foods I was accustomed to eat. Many experiences/things were exciting to me because they were new. However, I soon started to see the reality of being in a new country. This happened when I first attended High school. I felt very alienated from the mainstream because of my limited English skills. Prejudice- Destroying Story I remember that as a child I was made to believe that it was acceptable to laugh about jokes made of blacks. It was acceptable to see them eaten by alligators in cartoons. I was fine to believe that they were inferior. This is the way they were portrayed not only in cartons but also in movies and soap operas. This prejudice was a result of the socialization process that I went through in my country as a child. Today, and for a long time, I no longer feel this prejudice towards blacks. In facts, negative portrayals of blacks anywhere is offensive to me. I attribute the break down of my prejudice towards black to the fact that I know more about them. I see them as I see myself, as humans with feelings who have had a very sad and rough past. I now have long time friends who are black. Today, I see blacks with compassion because of their past and present suffering.
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