Free Essays - Running From Prejudice :: Personal Narrative Essay Example

Running From Prejudice I look around and I see it, and then I read about it. But I never thought I would be faced with discrimination firsthand. It's my junior year in high school, with lots of opportunities, freedom and responsibility. I decided to join the cross-country team, and somehow I knew it wouldn't be easy, but I knew most of the team from classes and from running track. The first day of practice I disregarded the stares. As the season went on, though, I started to feel out of place, like an outsider. I was the only African-American and there was no one I could relate to or who could relate to me. I stayed to myself and kept thinking, Life is not always great, but I just have to get through this. There were certain people I was able to get along with, but even they would occasionally make racial comments. By then I was fully aware of how much respect they lacked. One day after a meet as we were preparing to leave, they started discussing how teens sometimes do crazy things. Then all of a sudden the issue of black and white surfaced and someone said, "Whites are superior to blacks, blacks have issues." The saddest part of this was realizing they knew I was there and didn't care. My world crumbled as they made comment after comment and laughed. Reality smacked me in the face. I'd had my first encounter with discrimination. The tears poured from my eyes as I headed for the bus. The only thought I had was how I had been deceived into believing these people were my friends and I could trust them. Even though some apologized, I don't have the respect for them I had had before. My insight on people will never be the same. After the incident, I took some time away from the team to reflect on what was important to me.