The Personal SIde of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

When I was in high school I distinctly remember a fellow cheerleader friend of mine being the target of prejudice behavior.  The entire cheerleading squad was white middle class girls except for one individual.  She was an African American individual who had a middle class family as well. We were having a squad sleep over.  The cheerleader who was hosting the sleep over did not want our fellow squad member to attend because she was “just different than us”.  I absolutely stood my ground and refused to go unless she was invited as well.  This was ridiculous behavior I felt and had a very hard time understanding it.  I decided no matter what the final decision would be on inviting this individual I would not attend the sleep over.  I did not want to associate with individuals that could be so hurtful.  When people stand up for what they believe in, it shows others the right thing to do.  We are all equals in this world.  We may have a different skin color, religion or sexual orientation but we are still equal.