Ceguera

My partner and I were talking about stereotypes the other day and she told me about an upsetting experience she had in college. L was born in Honduras, grew up in Brooklyn, and went to college in a predominantly white, affluent community. At the beginning of her freshman year, she secured a work-study job in one of the college's administrative offices. After the first few weeks, a woman who had been working in the office for several years asked L how she liked the position. L told her that she was enjoying it, and the woman commented, “Yeah, keeps you off the streets, right?” L looked at her quizzically and thought to herself, “Why would I be on the streets?” It took her a minute to realize that the woman saw L’s hair and skin and had made narrow, biased assumptions about her life. Perhaps the worst part of this story is that the woman believed she was being compassionate and understanding. Oh, ignorance.