Due to the connections there are between race and culture, there tends to be social and physical cues that individuals may refer to in order to determine the race of a specific person. However, drawing conclusions of one’s race based on their last name, physical appearance, way of speaking, or clothing attire, also tends to be a very ignorant approach. This is an example of contempt prior to investigation- whether you think you are correct about what you label one’s race to be, it isn’t accurate nor fair for you to conclude part of one’s identity before you even get to know the person. Here are three instances that highlight the problem of contempt prior to investigation in reference to racial identity:

Let’s hire Mr. Garcia…

The staff at a high school was in the process of hiring a new counselor and being a school of predominantly Hispanic, Latino students, it could have been possible the staff would be interested in hiring someone bilingual with the ability to speak both English and Spanish. As the staff gathered all of the applications, resumes and completed the interview process with potential candidates, they decided to hire Mr. Garcia for the position. However, once the school year began and students along with their parents began to schedule appointments to speak to Mr. Garcia, they came to discover that he was not entirely fluent with Spanish. But he is Mr. Garcia, he must speak Spanish right? No. What the staff members came to discover after they had already hired a counselor for the school and it was too late to hire someone else, was that Mr. Garcia was actually of Portuguese decent. Hence, although Mr. Garcia was proficient in Spanish, he never mentioned in his application that he was fluent, it was just assumed that he was.

This problem could have been prevented if the staff had just taken a moment to ask Mr. Garcia if he was fluent in Spanish, rather than assuming he could speak Spanish simply due to his last name.

Let’s talk bad about Michelle, she can’t understand us anyways…

One of my best friends, Michelle, has also been a victim of contempt prior to investigation in reference to race and I was a witness of one of these instances. In middle school, as Michelle and I were standing outside after school one day, we came across two women that were friends of my grandmother. These two women recognized me, since my grandmother was the one that brought me to school every morning, so they approached me and began complimenting me on how pretty I looked in resemblance to my mother. I was flattered and said thank you, however, my mood shifted after they began to talk about my friend Michelle. Speaking in Spanish to each other, one woman said to the other: “Mira a su amiga, bien piertita y gordita. Pobresita.” Little did these two women know that my friend Michelle was part Columbian and part African American, therefore she could perfectly understand what they were saying in Spanish. Little did these two women know that Michelle could perfectly understand that they were saying, “Look at Jessica’s friend, so dark and chubby. Poor little girl.” After that incident we immediately left, and since that day I have never spoken to those women.

Being of a dark skin color, someone can commit the ignorant mistake of assuming Michelle is African-American, when in fact she is part Columbian. She was raised by a Columbian mother who is only fluent in Spanish, hence till this day Michelle is only spoken to in Spanish by her mother. If these women had taken the time to get to know Michelle, they could have avoided the problem of ignorantly assuming she could not understand Spanish and insulting her right in front of her face.

Let’s explain everything to Melissa in Spanish since she’s Mexican…

A great friend of mine, Melissa, had an appointment scheduled for a doctor's visit and after being attended, the doctor entered the room and began to explain everything that was wrong with her in Spanish. Trying to explain to Melissa that she had symptoms of the flu, Melissa was confused at what the doctor was communicating to her. Although the doctor was Caucasian and was struggling with trying to explain the information to Melissa in Spanish, she still made the effort since she assumed Melissa could only understand Spanish. After much confusion, Melissa said to the doctor, “I don’t understand what you’re trying to say, can you tell me in English.” With an expression of surprise on her face, the doctor replied, “Oh yes! I’m sorry!”

Yes, Melissa is of brown skin color and is of Mexican American decent, however, she was not raised speaking Spanish. Although she understands a few words here and there, she is not fluent in the Spanish language whatsoever. If the doctor had taken a moment to ask Melissa what language she was most comfortable with, she would not have ignorantly embarrassed herself, struggling to speak Spanish solely because of Melissa’s race.

Ultimately, contempt prior to investigation in reference to race tends to lead to issues. Making assumptions in accordance to one’s race based on social and/or physical cues can lead to ignorant mistakes. Not only can this lead to you disrespecting the person you are making racial assumptions towards, but can also lead to you undermining this person. As natural as it may feel to associate appearance, language and last name to someone’s racial identity, try your best not to let these social constructions take control over your judgment. Challenge these social constructions. Take a moment to get to know the person and ask questions before you jump to conclusions, and as a result, you will learn so much more.