Cam-Tien Cummins.
I get this comment quite often, usually after the person gets comfortable with me enough to say this. I also get this from my family and friends. My response: “What am I suppose to sound like?” Also, why is it yellow fever or jungle fever to describe a person’s interest in a specific race? Are we a disease that should be cured or rid of? I grew up with classmates saying how “whitewashed” I am. Only until I actually traveled outside of the US did I realized how questionable our perspectives are here in this country. I remember being in Australia and France. The locals didn’t describe how “white” I sound. They identified me as an American. Here I thought to myself, “I’m in a different country, am I an American?” All my life in the US, I’ve been treated as if I am not an American. It angered and saddened me that the country I grew up in had kept me believing that I am not American enough. This is my country I should love and shouldn’t it love me back? We need to break down these stereotypes and disrupt the discomfort!
