When I call places they usually transfer me to a Spanish speaking person....when I tell them that I do not need that they tell me that maybe will be easier to understand the whole conversation and get "whatever"needs to be resolved faster and easier. I think it is an insult! I am a bilingual individual and because I have an accent I am not an idiot.

Also, I am the type of person that when I am scared I do not talk to much (ex. taking my kids to the ER)sometimes,  the nurses start talking to me slowly, very slowly....I look at them and tell them I do speak English. People just do not understand that speaking slow to a person who does not speak English is not going to make them understand any better.

Public schools.....they want to send my kids to ESOL programs all the time. I asked them why....the answer....because you speak Spanish at home!!!!!!! Yeah!!!!!! and my kids are bilingual as well!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

These are just a few~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, I've seen that too.  You are totally right - people will speak slower because they think somehow the other person will understand.  I know what you are saying about the speaking English thing because my ex-husband was Yaqui Indian/Mexican and when he was working construction part-time, he would be asked all the time if he spoke English.  He served in the U.S. Army for 10 years and not only spoke English, Spanish but also Arabic, Russian and Mandarin Chinese and he was an extremely intelligent and well-spoken individual.  We took a weekend trip to Miami and when he asked for directions, everyone would ask why he spoke redneck Spanish.  The Cuban Spanish was much faster and different and they weren't used to someone speaking a Mexican dialect so it seemed slower and more country to them.

Christine

I guess my story is a case of reverse-discrimination that was very upsetting for me at the time.  I worked very hard through college by taking classes and working over 30 hours at the on-campus child development center as a 4 year old teacher. I really wanted to work with Pre-K students when I graduated. I became so involved with local child based programs that I started to make a name for myself as a very hard worker and learner. I built a strong bond with one elementary school that had a special 4 year old program that I had worked many hours a week in volunteering. It was my dream position and I knew the school and most of the staff by the time I graduated.  The principal was so excited to hear that I was finally graduating and the teacher in the program decided it was time for her to retire and she was thrilled to be able to hand the class over to me. So everyone pretty much knew that it was a sure thing that I could get the position at the school as the teacher.  I finally got all my paperwork in order at the county office and then got a call from the principal.  She was very upset and bothered and felt horrible.  She said that her hands were tied and that she had even contacted the superintendant in the county at the time to try to fight it but that she lost the battle.  It seemed that she had to hire a minority for the position and that of all the applicants who were minoritys that had applied for the position none of them had any experience working with pre-k children or any kind of time put in working with young children.  She said she was really angry because she understood the whole minority ratio balance in hiring but that in this case she said it clearly was not fair because I was the best choice due to experience and the fact that I already had a repore going with the school and many of the families who attended, I had a degree in early childhood and a certificate in early childhood while none of the others did.  So, I ended up losing my dream job because of reverse discrimination and even though this was almost 18 years ago, I am still really bitter about it.  I hope I don't get bashed for my post but I really feel that this was severely unfair.

mom2atornado - discrimination is discrimination and it comes from all angles, not just for minorities so you shouldn't get bashed for sharing your experience.  I agree, it's hard not to be bitter about what happened to you, just like I've never forgotten what that salesman said to me as a little girl.  Even though I was only 6, it has stayed with me and I will never forget it.  My mom's grandparents were Irish immigrants and they were told many times that they were not allowed to have jobs because there was a strict No-Irish Need Apply in Boston when they arrived in the 1920's.  My great-grandfather was lucky to get a job with the post office but he never forgot the humiliation he felt being turned away because of his country of origin.

Christine

originally posted by mom2atornado

I guess my story is a case of reverse-discrimination that was very upsetting for me at the time.  I worked very hard through college by taking classes and working over 30 hours at the on-campus child development center as a 4 year old teacher. I really wanted to work with Pre-K students when I graduated. I became so involved with local child based programs that I started to make a name for myself as a very hard worker and learner. I built a strong bond with one elementary school that had a special 4 year old program that I had worked many hours a week in volunteering. It was my dream position and I knew the school and most of the staff by the time I graduated.  The principal was so excited to hear that I was finally graduating and the teacher in the program decided it was time for her to retire and she was thrilled to be able to hand the class over to me. So everyone pretty much knew that it was a sure thing that I could get the position at the school as the teacher.  I finally got all my paperwork in order at the county office and then got a call from the principal.  She was very upset and bothered and felt horrible.  She said that her hands were tied and that she had even contacted the superintendant in the county at the time to try to fight it but that she lost the battle.  It seemed that she had to hire a minority for the position and that of all the applicants who were minoritys that had applied for the position none of them had any experience working with pre-k children or any kind of time put in working with young children.  She said she was really angry because she understood the whole minority ratio balance in hiring but that in this case she said it clearly was not fair because I was the best choice due to experience and the fact that I already had a repore going with the school and many of the families who attended, I had a degree in early childhood and a certificate in early childhood while none of the others did.  So, I ended up losing my dream job because of reverse discrimination and even though this was almost 18 years ago, I am still really bitter about it.  I hope I don't get bashed for my post but I really feel that this was severely unfair.

Yes....it is awful either way...it sounds more like a funding-$ issue than anything else...but it should not be like that at all either. There are so many programs available that have so many restrictions that are ridiculous.

I was born and raised in europe moved to florida and it's like a whole new  world as far as racism goes...often i find myself in awe by people and their  ignorance.being a bi-racial child people tend to want to ask me questions that they assume because i am that race i have an answer to...well my response is i'm not the spokesman for my race so i dont know the answer to all the questions lol...i also hated it when i was preggers people would say to me oh your child is going to be so beautiful because my husband is white and  i'm bi-racial...i just walk away because at the end of the day all children are beautiful and my all time pet peeve is when people want to touch my son's hair only because to see the texture...so racism is something that i know of and have experinced and it makes me sad...because this is the world i'm bringing my son into and it worries me..i dont know if any of you remeber the children bein denied access to a swimming pool in is Pa. because of there skin color? i actually got emotional because how do you as a parent explain ignorance to your child?

i love to shop,spend time with my family,and learning any and everything about law enforcement,i am a criminal justice major

I agree that there is a lot of racial discrimination still today but I think that there is no such thing as reverse discrimation.  Racial discrimination is treating someone differently because of their race, last I checked white is still a race.  How can we fight it when if it happens to a "white" person it is reverse disrimination.  This is a term trown out in the media and has become a part of our vocabulary but it really shouldn't be a word (no offense mom2atornado).  ALL races are discriminated against, it is sad but it is a fact.  I have experienced it with a few job positions as well and I think I will experience more as I raise my 2 boys.  My husband and I are both white and we have 2 beautiful Mexican children that we have adopted and have heard from others that when you raise children outside of your race that both races sometimes have a problem with it.  We are teaching them to treat others by their actions not their race.  I love my children and couldn't care less that they are a different race.

Hey Noasmommy...I know what you mean...My daughter is half black, and I fear what she might have to go through.  I really pray and hope that her generation will be more accepting and loving of each other.  Although our nation has taken great strides, we still have a ways to go.  Growing up in Jersey, I see a lot of bi-racial families, but as I traveled in the military, I know that some places are just not as progressive...

  **Fatima** 

- "A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie." - Tenneva Jordan

I think sometimes it is even harder on the people who are bi-racial because they feel like they are pressured by one group or another to "PICK SIDES" and that is a shame.  I don't blame you noasmommy or riddler07 for feeling so emotional especially when it's your children.  Regardless of what race they are or whether they are your biological children or adopted, people can strike a nerve when they make irresponsible comments and as a mother, it hurts even deeper.  mamaporsiempre, I hope that more people would stop making assumptions about people before they have a chance to speak for themselves.  My sons are blue-eyed/green-eyed and blond hair and I get a lot of questions from people all the time as to how that happened.  I think that maybe people need to think more before they speak.

Christine

My daughters father is spanish so she has tan skin and a lady once in Walmart walked up to me to tell me how pretty she was and then proceeded to ask me what she had in her????? Like she was a dog!  I didn't know how to answer, I just walked away, i was a new mom then, but i am a lot stronger now and put people in there places often.