Tony Reyes,
Portland, OR.
I’m half Latino. My mother is a white, evangelical, conservative. I came home the night Obama was re-elected and asked if she had heard the results. The above statement was how she very bitterly responded. Apparently people of color aren’t intellectually capable of choosing a president on the basis of anything else but race. I have quite a few memories concerning race that fill me with anger. Anger both at people and at myself for not standing up. Because I’m light-skinned, I’ve been present during times where groups of white people (I grew up in the suburbs) think there’s no one around to offend. Out of all the stories I could have chosen, I chose this story to illustrate that racism is real, it’s painful, and literally no sector of society is immune to it. Not even family. I feel much better just from writing this.
