As long as I can remember, I have always got, "are you sure you are Asian?" "You don't have an Asian name." "Are you sure you are not Mexican?" "Maria is a very common name for Mexican people." "It isn't a fake name is it cause all Asian people have their name then aka their American name."
At first, I would chuckle and laugh, but when people continue to pick at the question, it gets frustrating. Sometimes I feel like I have to make up an Asian name so they would feel better that my name is not Maria and I am not Mexican.
I have realized that no matter what you do, who you are, how you do things, what your name is, or your ethnicity, there will always be a racial, bias, or stereotypical remark towards you. With the new generations, many of these behaviors are learned behavior by the parents. Racial, stereotyping, bias, and discrimination cannot be controlled. Parents have control over what comes out of their child's mouth and the things they do. For example, I had a step-parent teaching his step son about calling Black individuals the "N" word and as long as his step son did it outside of school, it was okay for him to say or hurt them. The mom was unaware of what was said to her son, until I met with her in regards to his comment.
"Racism is still with us. But it is up to us to prepare our children for what they have to meet, and, hopefully, we shall overcome" (Park, Rosa., 2001-2016).
Parks, Rosa. (2001-2016). Racism Quotes. Retrieved from
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/racism.html
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ReplyDeleteYes I do agree with you on educating the children and families on how to treat people. People don't see the harm in what they do because maybe it has never been done to them or the parent forsee it is okay to do it.
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