“No, where are you really from?”
Fatima Abdel-Gwad
Sacramento, CA
Yes, I’m Muslim. Yes, I’m American. I’m really from America.
Judgment based on an individual’s ACCENT.
Ame Cruz,
Sacramento, CA.
It’s not just about blacks & whites. People tend to judge based on others’ accents as if they’re not good enough because they don’t know English well.
Your accent… Are you from here?
Ivan Vazquez,
Sacramento, CA.
Although I was born and raised in San Diego, CA ; I grew up in a household that comprised of both the English and Spanish language, about 60% English and 40% Spanish. I am a child of second-generation immigrants and even though I received my entire education in English, I came to realize an accent was attached to my vocal chords. The ironic thing about it all, even when I was in Mexico among other Spanish speakers I received the same reaction and came to learn I also have an accent when I speak Spanish. I don’t necessarily feel rejected, however, on that same token I don’t really feel as I belong to either group…
Chinese Peruvian, 100% Magician
Adam Won,
Sacramento, CA
This will represent deep healing for me, considering that I am both a Chinese Cantonese and have a grandmother with mostly indigenous Peruvian background with a recently discovered distant Italian/Spanish Basque background. I grew up with both cultures because my father is a Chinese Peruvian mestizo (he does look more Chinese than myself) and my mother is Chinese from Hong Kong. If you are looking at blood quatrains, I am 75% East Asian, 17% Amerindian, and 8% European. I never quite fit in because of my phenotype, and never being accepted as Chinese or Peruvian. Most people assume I am a Filipino or some kind Southeast Asian like Khmer, Thai, Indonesian, etc. Actually, what is mostly avoided especially growing up with my phenotype is colorism and classism within Asia. Chinese looking down their “poorer, darker, barbarian” cousins from other Asian countries, and me feeling ashamed of how I looked thinking I looked ugly. I had an experience in college in California, where a South Asian (Indian) ironically told me “I was ashamed to be a Filpino and that I was lying about ethnicity.” I never so pissed off in my life, that I could of smash his face in. It wasn’t because he assumed I was Filipino but it was because he said I was ashamed to be something that I don’t claim to be. Don’t let anyone tell you who are, I don’t care who they are.
I experienced more racism with other Chinese people, the culture I was most exposed to, than to other groups of people like whites, blacks, etc in America. I have lived in China for a year, and I do speak/read/write some Chinese. While living there to my surprise, I found out that intense regionalism and other Chinese from different provinces despising each other were rampant. Calling Cantonese people as “Malaysian monkey” is a past time with Northern Chinese, because they have on average darker skin than themselves. In the end, I realized I don’t have to part of any cultural/ethnic group and I can be fiercely independent despite my ancestry. Belonging is a mindset, nothing more. I don’t have to prove myself of being myself. This makes me an American, the mindset and not how someone looks like. Maybe I am a self-proclaimed Libertarian in the making!!!
I ate pasta, family ate rice.
Melanie Vanderlipe Ramil,
Sacramento, CA.
Growing up, I wanted to be as “non-Filipino” as possible and felt great achievement whenever a friend said to me, “You seem so white!” During my middle school years, I claimed to not like rice (the staple for every night’s family dinner). My mom, after rushing home from work to cook dinner for us everyday, relented and lovingly prepared pasta for me while the rest of the family ate rice and the evening’s accompanying meat dish. Today, I long to speak Tagalog, call my mom every week for advice on how to cook Filipino dishes, and look forward to the day when I have children and can share my rich heritage with them.
Learn more about Vanderlipe Ramil’s six words on NPR’s Morning Edition
Miles, Duke, Ella. Music conquers race.
Ernie Hills,
Sacramento, CA.
“As a young musician growing up in a white bread and mayonnaise world, I revered the recordings of black jazz musicians. This, more than anything else, is responsible for erasing the lingering racial animosity that was part of my family’s unspoken legacy.
Thanks for being with us today!”
You Italian then? No, I’m Hispanic.
Andrea Lopez,
Sacramento, CA.
When confronted with the question of whether or not I’ve experienced racism in my life, I always remember the first time I felt discriminated against. I was about twelve years old and I was meeting my best friend’s father for the first time. She moved to California from Georgia with her mother and siblings, her father followed later and in the end he did not stay. I always felt welcome by her family and never even thought about discrimination, so when I met her father I was taken aback by his question. “You Italian, then?”, I immediately understood what he was really asking. I answered “No, I’m Hispanic” but quickly felt the need to validate myself so I offered up the fact that I come from Native American ancestry as well. I suppose I felt the need to let him know that my roots were imbedded in US soil unlike his European ancestors that migrated here. It was a rude awakening for a child and it had lasting effects on me. I was now aware that other people were aware of my skin tone and ethnicity. Even being called “blackie” due to my darker summer tan by the overweight red-headed freckle-faced bully in school did not make me think about race. As an adult I see that the boy who bullied me had insecurity issues of his own, bless his heart. So, it took an adult from the Deep South to rain on my parade, he introduced racism to me and I finally understood what it meant to not be white. My friend’s father ended up moving back to Georgia after a domestic dispute became physical between him and her mother. I was glad he was gone because I never felt comfortable around him, I always knew he disapproved of me. From then on I was always aware of my surroundings and I knew that I would not always be accepted and that I would have to learn to be strong and not let other people’s prejudices interfere with my life. As an adult living in California I rarely experience racism, but I do think about it often, especially when I’m thinking of planning a trip to other states. I research the percentage of the Hispanic population to see if I would be accepted as a visitor and I often worry because my boyfriend is white and some people in different states may not be so welcoming of the two of us. It definitely adds a different perspective to life, I may be free to roam about the country, but will I be accepted?
“Why don’t you like me?”
Mandy P,
Sacramento, CA.
When I was 7 years old we moved to Sacramento from Oregon. The culture and diversity is very in California than in Oregon. Moving to California exposed me to many other races and cultures. I saw many other races in my environment. Although in my neighborhood, where I lived and attended elementary school, there were very few other races besides white. My schemata was limited to the experiences I had had in my life to that point. In his book, “Race, Monogamy and Other Lies They Told You”, Fuentes describes schemata as everything we have experienced and learned throughout our lives that make up how we see the world (2012: 30). Even though my exposure was increased by our move, my everyday experiences were very similar to what they had been in Oregon. I was still living in a mostly white community, and my family still very much influenced me. My schemata had not changed all that much.
When I was in the 3rd grade, a teacher of mine dedicated the last week of school to showing the class the entire made for TV series of “Roots.” I was shocked and horrified by what I saw in those shows. I had no idea of that part of American history. I remember walking away with a sense of what racism was. I walked away with a deeper understanding of how wrong it was to judge another person on the color of their skin. A skill of being non-judgmental that stuck with me. Fuentes explains “enskillment” as learned and acquired behaviors that we gain from our environment (2012: 30). I had gained a new skill through that early experience.
When I was in the 7th grade we moved to the pocket area of Sacramento. The Jr. High I attended was in a different part of town where the community was much different than I was used to. At this new school whites were the minority. I knew that I was different from most of my peers. It was here that I experienced racism first hand. I was picked on, bullied, and threatened. There was one girl in particular along with her two friends, who bullied me for most of a year. I had no idea why she was treating me this way. After several months of constant fear, ridicule, and public humiliation I finally asked her why she didn’t like me. She responded by saying “Because you’re fat, you’re white and you’re ugly.” I was so mortified. I was being hated because of my outward appearance and there was nothing I could do about it. It was then that I truly understood what racism was.
Through that early experience in the 3rd grade, I had gained a skill that I am extremely grateful for. Instead of learning the skill of racism, I was able to fight against negativity and hate and rise above. These experiences have become a part of my schemata and the skills I have learned are a great benefit to me today.
Our hearts are the same, right?
Steven Scogna,
Sacramento, CA.
We are all different but connected!
Zara Edwards,
Sacramento, CA.
“Externally, Internally; We’re All Alike, Human!”
Charles,
Sacramento, CA
Many Thanks for this Micro-Platform; Would that it Sheds Much Light on a Huge Topic!
My DNA can’t recall my RACE!?
Mckenzie C,
Sacramento, CA.
Science tells us that race cannot be found in our DNA. There is not one person that could find out about an individuals race based solely on DNA, because it is simply not there. The cool thing about this; DNA is the one and only thing that contains our whole genetic makeup, its who we are, and therefore race has nothing to do with who we are (at least it shouldn’t). Race according to our DNA is not of importance it is simply not real, race was made up solely on humans assumptions of each other. Race needs to end here.
Being Asian, my Authenticity is Questioned
Colette,
Sacramento, CA.
“I love Asian girls”
“I love Japanese people”
“Konnichiwa”
“Ni hao”
“Sayonara”
“Kamsammida”
‘Your a bad Japanese. You don’t know Japanese.’
“Are you Chinese?”
“I don’t think people in Osaka speak Kansaiben”
“I know Chinese”
“You look the most Japanese”
“You could be an other Asian too”
One Caucasian man approached my friends and I at a local pizza place and in a matter of 10 minutes, he say every problematic thing ever to us Asian Americans. We told him that we were born in this country and that we speak English, etc. But that didn’t stop the “konnichiwa’ or “nihao.”
Who is he to say that we were bad Japanese for not knowing how to speak Japanese? Who is this person who thinks he can measure our authenticity? He is nobody. This experience similar to the “where are you from?” question that always pops up, is the struggle of Asian Americans who are still seen as the Perpetual Foreigner.
NO MORE WEAVES FOR ME FOLKS!
Nikki Hearn,
Sacramento, CA.
Being “Black” just the way God made me is enough.
