When did you become aware of your prejudices, and how?

Pretty early on. I just realized that repeated unpleasant situations with the same type of people over time caused me to associate those people with the unpleasant experiences I had. I grew up in the thick of the hippie / flower child movement. I've been in a few communes, and my step dad and mom even had one going of their own for a while. That was my first "prejudice". I decided that the word "hippie" must have been short for hypocrite by the time I was 10 years old. My next one was north African and middle eastern people because of the news, and I had already developed an affinity for Israel and Jewish people.... and all the hotel and store owners I had met of those persuasions had rubbed me the wrong way. Then, in job corps and the army, I developed a prejudice towards African Americans because of their loudness and what seemed like a predisposition towards violence , foul language, and misogyny. All this time, I realized that it was unfair to associate certain types of people with the bad experiences I had with them, so I adjusted my thinking. I had extensive diversity training at the University of Arkansas when I worked there, and my ability to acknowledge these things was extremely helpful.

when I seen the cops have to bring my friends to school
the KKK was there saying they were going to shoot them
a black friend hugged me I have played with since we were babies
and a white kid knocked me down and called me a nigger lover
Then all the black boys picked me up ,picked the sand spurs out of my back
and dared anyone else to touch me

Then I sang my version of "Oh Happy Day " and a black girls said I didn't have soul ..so I told her something ignorant I had heard and told her being black was the curse of Cain ,,used the Bible to try to prove my point

My Black Mamie was hurt with me over that ,,I got a lecture

My Grandma was loved by everyone ,Grandpa worked men of all colors at his fish house and in his orange groves

I had Blacks and Mexicans look after us as kids ,,we didn't know color until the 3rd grade ,when they desegregated the schools

when we seen Dr King killed was a bad time too

Hmm..well...it was really when I sat down and made them all up! I was suffering, at the time, from [b]prejudice envy[/b]!! There - another new social term to us all to [i]yabber on[/i] about and taunt each other!

By becoming self aware through reading and real life experiences. I'm working on becoming better. I'll take things one day at a time.

I honestly never really had any.