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Stopping myself from hating white people

Simone,
Canada.

I’m Asian-Canadian, and honestly, it’s kind of hard not to feel just plain alienated right now. It’s just gotten bad lately.
The level of xenophobia towards Chinese, or anyone assumed Chinese, is seriously tiring. It’s maybe the straw on the camel’s back here. It reminds me of my early childhood in Vancouver seeing stuff like “Chinese go home” graffiti etc.
If it’s not me- because I have a very decidedly Canadian accent and don’t even speak my native language- it’s targeted at people who look like me, the kinds of people who honestly have no difference from my ama, from my relatives, from my parents.
I’m becoming self-conscious when people go out of their way to avoid me when I’m out. I don’t think I’ve seen any fellow Asians without masks, most people who aren’t white tbh wear masks. I wear masks. But the focus is on my community all the same.
I don’t hate white people, and I know there’s a lot of amazing people. But saying I feel alienated is an understatement. There’s a serious feeling that I should just stick to my own and maybe eventually leave though Canada’s where I was raised since I was 2.

I am the lone black parent….

Rackley Love,
Mars, PA.

The alienation that I have experienced as a parent is an enigma. Like them, I am a stay at home mom. Like them, my husband has a white collar job. Like them we chose this community because of its highly rated schools and safe streets. And like them, my passion and love for my children calls me to volunteer at school, participate in PTO Fundraisers, and spend my days at libraries and museums. I notice the whispers when I appear at the mommy and me dance classes and midday story time activities. No one ever walks over and welcomes me. I’ve never had coffee with other moms after the morning carpool drop-off. My children are seldom invited to birthday parties, and never invited to sleepovers. I am not oblivious to it! My husband and I love our girls, and our love for them is greater than this implicit xenophobia. It is for the love of my girls that we remain.

Drawl big words. They are surprised.

Roy Turrentine,
Normandy, TN.

Race is actually just a part of our natural xenophobia. Over the course of being a southerner rooted in agrarian dialects and educated among those from all across the country, I have experienced genuine surprise on the part of some when they realize I can speak with a drawl and still have something profound to offer. Some have gone so far as to say “wow, you are really smart”, as though such a comment will make me feel better about my lack of conventional diction. I have grown to sort of enjoy it.

Are you sure you’re not hispanic?

Claudia Noronha Madrigal
Mankato, MN

These words are one of my earliest memories of living in the U.S. I can’t remember for sure where I was, but I think I was submitting my driver’s license application at the DMV. I don’t remember the woman’s face or her voice. I do remember the tone, dripping with condescension, as she pointed to the box I was supposed to check to indicate my ethnicity. I replied that I’m not hispanic, just caucasian. She glared, clearly not believing me, and insisted that I should check the box. That seemingly insignificant moment stuck with me. It marked the beginning of my awareness of racism and xenophobia in the U.S.

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