When I was in fifth grade, my art teacher had the class do some watercolor painting. I was only 10 years old and painted what I perceived life on a Texas farm was like in the country. The photo above was what I created.
My art teacher noticed my work and submitted the watercolor painting to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Art Competition. At the time, I did not know what a big deal the rodeo was in Houston, where I grew up my entire life.
My art teacher seemed so insistent on submitting my piece to the rodeo that she even changed my age from 10 to 12 on the application. There was a minimum age requirement of 12 to be entered.
Different Lens
I won a Red Ribbon, and to this date, I’m still trying to figure out if it’s an award of merit or participation. My parents were proud, though. They needed to find out what the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo was. My mom helped me hang my painting on the wall in my room, where it stayed for decades.
Years later, when I stayed at my parent’s house, I slept in my childhood bedroom and noticed the painting on the wall. I smiled as I observed it closely, but noticed something different.
As a child, the piece may seem innocent and cute. Still, as an adult, looking at my work through a different lens at a different time, I noticed something deeper. I noticed that my watercolor painting reflected my 10 year’s old prejudices and preconceived notions at the time.
Everyone has prejudices. Prejudices are opinions and perceptions towards people and things formed from the experiences and inexperiences of your life up to a point.
As a child of Vietnamese War refugees with a low-income background, my worldly views and perceptions of places I imagined were limited. They were shaped by what I saw and observed in school, what I consumed on media like movies and cartoons, and the books I read.
The Prejudiced Painting
If you observe my watercolor painting closely, you see a white house with a Texas flag on the left. I presumed every farm had animals, so this particular farm had many animals. The farm even grew wheat and had a lovely, curvy river.
The man and the dog(?) in the center of the watercolor painting were most interesting to me. The man was painted black and was the farm’s laborer, the subject of the painting.
At age 10, I remember consciously painting the farm’s laborer black because I assumed only brown and black people worked on farms. To me, that was just how farms, based on what I read and saw, operated.
Perhaps, my art teacher saw something different too, when she saw my piece and submitted it to the rodeo. I only noticed it when I was an adult, looking at my piece from years past.
Why It’s Important to Recognize Prejudice
As I look back on my watercolor painting from my childhood, I’m struck by how even at a young age, our perceptions and prejudices can be shaped by the information and perspectives presented to us through the institutions in our lives.
It’s a reminder that it’s important to examine these influences and actively seek out diverse perspectives critically, be aware of institutions’ role in shaping perceptions, and question and challenge when necessary.
It’s also a reminder that we are constantly growing and learning, and it’s never too late to unlearn and change our perceptions and prejudices.
Recognizing our prejudices and biases is important because it allows us to understand how and why our perceptions and attitudes toward certain groups or issues have been formed.
By understanding the origins of our prejudices, we can question their validity and challenge them. Recognizing our prejudices can help us be more empathetic and understanding toward others and their perspectives. It also allows us to actively work towards creating a more inclusive and equitable society.
Recognizing our prejudices is crucial in dismantling systemic discrimination and oppression. Without recognizing and addressing our biases, we cannot expect to create a truly fair and just society.
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This post was previously published on medium.com.
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Photo credit: Maria Petersson on Unsplash
