Fifteen-year-old Trena, the child of an interracial marriage, often feels caught in a virtual vise of prejudice. She says: “If I associate with blacks, then the white students feel I don’t want to be with them. However, if I associate with the white students, the blacks feel that I think I am better than they are.”

How Victims of Prejudice Feel

Perhaps you too have experienced being passed over for a job, denied entrance to a school you wanted to attend, treated impolitely in a store or a restaurant, or harassed by peers. If so, you know that prejudice hurts. Says 17-year-old Lucy: “Prejudice really angers me.” Being of Spanish background, Lucy well knows how frustrating prejudice can be. “Even though I do my work and get good grades in school, I never get recognition. If a white person does well, my teacher praises him. But no matter how hard you work, if you are not white, it is not good enough.”

Other youths react to prejudice with quiet resignation. Says one teenage girl who is black: “In my school, most are white, and I get along with the kids pretty well. They do call me names, but I don’t really mind because I’m used to it now.”

Yet, some allow the cutting remarks and condescending attitudes of others to crush their self-esteem. Says one young man: “My mother and father were of two different races. As I grew up, I was looked down on by both sides. As a result, I have suffered much mental and emotional damage. I can remember at times being ashamed of my color.”

Coping With Prejudice

Understandably, then, racial prejudice can ignite feelings of rage, a desire to retaliate, to get even, to rise up in rebellion!

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Some youths feel they are overlooked in school because of racial prejudice

Do not “return evil for evil.” Being the victim of a racial slur or being subjected to a tasteless dose of racial “humor” can arouse strong feelings. Recalls a 16-year-old girl named Tara: “I went to a school that was predominantly white. The kids would whisper to one another​—but loud enough so I could hear—​all kinds of racial slurs.” It may be most tempting to lash back. But remember: Those inflicting the hurtful comments often want you to get angry and retaliate, giving excuse to inflict physical harm or further verbal abuse upon you. Well does Proverbs 14:17 say: “He that is quick to anger will commit foolishness.”

So try to keep cool in spirit. Keep in mind the words of an ancient wise counselor: “Don’t pay attention to everything people say.” (Ecclesiastes 7:21, Today’s English Version) “If I had really listened to them,” recalls Tara, “they would have driven me crazy. But I did not let it get to me.”