Keep your emotions in check | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Identities

6 Things To Remember When Dealing With Discrimination

How to respond to the haters.

402
6 Things To Remember When Dealing With Discrimination

In This Article:

Most of us have all encountered some form of discrimination in our life. Whether it be race, gender, size, religion, income, etc., we have all felt belittled or brought down by a factor most of us can't control. However, how we respond to these harmful actions makes all the difference as well. Here are the top six ways to respond to the haters.

Keep your cool

The initial insult or threat will always come as shock. If you are willing to try and calm this person down or change their mind, you have to be cool. Otherwise, the adrenaline from the situation will hinder you from thinking clearly, and you will be coming from a place of negativity. And nothing gets done when it's negativity vs negativity.

You're not alone!

It is really important to step up to racism and discrimination. It is often a very scary experience, and it is hard for people to stand up for themselves. Helping to be their voice will encourage others to join in and stop the situation. Let the person being attacked know that they aren't alone and help them out. It is also just as important to know when to reach out for help, even if police have to get involved.

Stand up for yourself

Note that a good percentage of racism starts with misinformation and stereotypes. The people attacking you aren't that smart, so informing them when they're wrong is key to preventing future altercations. A perfect example is that my local mosque, the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo, was attacked by an arsonist. However, his motive was that he thought we "didn't believe Jesus Christ as the savior." However, this wasn't true, and in this case he looked like the biggest idiot in the world.

Keep minding your business

When dealing with these kinds of people, it is also important to just keep minding your business. Remember that their opinions don't matter and aren't widely shared. If you respond with nothing, they are going to be the ones looking like idiots for going out of their way to try and hurt or harm you.

Keep your emotions in check

As stated earlier, you will have an adrenaline rush because of the insult/threat stated, but keeping your emotions in check is crucial. The person wants you to respond this way, as that's their goal. The last thing you want to do is for you to give them reasons why they should be hating.

Be the bigger person

It is hard to forget and forgive someone who has spewed negativity based on something about you. But the only way to move forward sometimes is to forgive. It is the hardest move to make, but it is the bigger move. There is too much positivity in the world for someone so insignificant to ruin your day!

Just know that there are always people looking out for you and that you are never alone in the world.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Student Life

8 Things I Realized After My First Semester In College

Actually, Kylie Jenner, 2018 is the year of realizing things.

419
Friends

The first semester of college is famous for being one of the most difficult transitions of one's young adult life. You're thrown into a completely new area where the majority of the people surrounding you are strangers in an academic environment that's much more challenging then what you've grown accustomed to for the past twelve years. On top of that, you probably share a room with another person (or even multiple people) on the lumpiest "mattress" you've ever slept on.

With this change comes a lot of questions: what do I want to major in? What am I passionate about? Is what I'm passionate about something I'm actually good at? Why does the bathroom smell like cranberry juice and vodka? What is that thing at the bottom of the shower drain?

Keep Reading...Show less
girls with mascot
Personal Photo

College is tough, we all know. Here are 8 gifs you will 99% relate to if you are in college.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

7 Things College Has Taught Me

Other than knowledge and all those important things

668
7 Things College Has Taught Me
We Know Memes

So, college is the place where you're supposed to learn all of these amazing life skills.

Here are the top seven skills I have learned thus far.

Keep Reading...Show less
college

College is some of the greatest years of anyone's life. Its a time to be outrageous, different and free; a time to do everything you were afraid to do. Here are 38 things you will learn during your four (maybe, five or six) years in college!

1. As a freshman, one does get to be called “freshman” by upperclassmen when they walk to parties in a mob of people.

Keep Reading...Show less
Adulting

6 Unrealistic Expectations Society Has For Young Adults

Don't let the thesaurus-inspired vocabularies in our résumés fool you. We're actually just big kids.

3251
boy in adult clothes

Well over four feet tall and 100 pounds in weight, many of us "young adults" of the world still consider ourselves children. Big, working, college-attending, beer-drinking children. We may live on our own, know how to cook noodles, and occasionally use a planner, but don't be fooled; the youthful tendencies that reside within us still make their way into our daily lives. From choosing to stay up until 3:00 a.m. playing video games on a school night to going out in 30 degree weather without a coat, we still make decisions that our parents and grandparents would shake their heads at in disappointment. So why are we expected to know exactly how to be a wise, professional, sensible adult? It's not that we're irresponsible (for the most part, anyway). It's that we are young, inexperienced, and still have the sought-after, enthusiastic mentality that we can do and be whatever we want, which has not yet been tarnished by the reality of the world. These are just a few of the unrealistic expectations that society has for young adults.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments