The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

·       What memory do you have of an incident when you experienced bias, prejudice, and/or oppression, or witnessed someone else as the target of bias, prejudice, and/or oppression? Keep in mind that one can encounter such incidents in real contexts, including online environments, as well as in fictional ones, such as movies, books, television shows, and the like.

Outside of my early childhood job, I judge high school dance competitions. The hip-hop division is still relatively new in Colorado but, growing rapidly. Last year, at the state competition, we had two teams that were tied for the final competition. Although, both teams were very talented, they were also very different. It was clear that one team had more access to dance resources due to program funding as their costumes, choreography, formations, etc. were more technical then the other team who came from a school in a lower income area. The school from a lower income area had great choreography but, they didn’t have the resources to help them vary their dance formations and add more technique. It’s very expensive to access these resources for any high school team but, it’s especially challenging but a team that already has a low program income. Ultimately, the judges decided to take the team that had better costumes, choreography, and formations over the team that had more funk and an actual hip-hop vibe. Although it was never actually spoken, it was clear that the team that made it to finals made it because of their access to these extra dance resources.

·       In what way(s) did the specific bias, prejudice and/or oppression in that incident diminish equity?

This specific bias by the group of judges led to the competition not being fair as it was not judged based on pure talent but, by the status of the dance team that could afford to put more into their routine. Judges are supposed to judge without bias but, this group of judges let bias come into play based on the look of one team over another.

·       What feelings did this incident bring up for you?

I was not personally on this judging panel but, it was hard for me to watch this decision be made. I have been involved in the Colorado Spirit competition circuit for quite some time and I knew the background of the low-income school. I could sit there and know that the school put on the best performance they could give with the resources they had and that was not many. It was hard to watch children miss out on an opportunity purely due to their low income background even though, they had more true hip-hop moves.

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What and/or who would have to change in order to turn this incident into an opportunity for greater equity?

I think, in the dance world, score sheets are definitely created to favor the teams who have access to a million resources and no lack of funding. I am not sure how to exactly fix the score sheets but, they should be more focused on if the routine is truly hip-hop, or jazz, or pom and not so much should depend on how fancy the routine is in the end.