James White Equality

Equality is something that our society has not yet mastered. In fact, people are treated far from equally in our society. One of the reasons that people are treated unfairly is because of racial bias. Racial bias is a hidden prejudice inside of many people that causes them to despise or look down on people of certain nationalities – most often those of African, Asian, or South American descent. The Student Handbook defines this discrimination against minority groups as “the practice of treating persons in different ways because of prejudice” (Carruth 211). Indeed, by discriminating against a certain group of people, we are treating them differently, usually as inferior to ourselves. Racial bias, although it may not be recognized by most …show more content…
In a talk titled “The Little Problem I Had Renting a House,” James White tells his story of the racial discrimination that he experienced in his own life. He relates how he was looking for a home for his family while in the Air Force in Idaho. He called an apartment rental place and was told that there were four or five apartments available. However, just an hour later, when he went to sign the contract, the woman saw that he was an African American and told him that they had just rented out all of the apartments and had no more available. He was very disappointed and realized that he had been lied to and discriminated against. James White experienced similar discrimination years later when he and his family were on a road trip from Idaho to Pennsylvania. They left early one morning and drove all day. Around 7 o'clock, they began to get tired and decided to stop at a motel for the night. They saw one with a big flashing sign that read “Vacancies,” so he went inside and inquired, but the attendant said that she just rented out the last room, as she turned and switched off the flashing sign. James went back out to his vehicle and as the Whites were driving away from the motel, they noticed the “Vacancies” sign turn back on and continue flashing. Since he had, in the past, experienced something similar, he tried not to get discouraged, but instead found a motel further down the highway that was not so prejudice against his nationality. Unfortunately, James White doesn’t happen to be the only minority in America that has experienced this cruel injustice of racial discrimination because of people’s personal bias. People all over the world are losing equal opportunities because of their racial and ethnic