Thursday, March 25, 2004
Confronting the Issue of Racism
I remember my first encounter with racism. I remember it very clearly because I was old enough to understand it. I'm sure that as a younger child in elementary school, I probably encountered it subtly but it wasn't until Grade 9 that I was slapped in the face with it so bluntly.
I was coming home from school, got off the TTC and made my way through the park behind my house. I saw these little adorable kids playing on the teeter totter in the apartment playgrounds. I smiled at them, thinking they were so innocent and cute, recalling childhood memories of being on those same teeter-totters. Then, the one little girl who must not have been a day over five belched out to me: "Ching chong, ching chong." She used her little fingers to slant her eyes and stuck her tongue out at me. Shocked and almost driven to tears, I remember thinking, "She is only 5..."
I had never felt so different, so mocked and so excluded in my entire life. And for the first time, I realized that I needed to be more aware of issues of racism. I needed to make other aware that it hurts to be treated like that - like you don't belong - like you are different and don't deserve respect.
As I grew older, I started to date a non-Asian. His family didn't approve of me because of my race and that made it even more difficult to deal with. At one point, I wanted to stand up for myself but I didn't. I sat there as his father called me a "chink" to my face and didn't say a word. i did it out of respect for an elder and out of respect for my bf but who there respected me???
Needless to say, we are no longer together but these issues are still there. Issues of racism have preceded my experiences and will continue to proceed into the future and affect my children. What are we to do? I have made my efforts to make people aware of racism through my papers, through sharing experiences with friends...but what else is there that we can do? We can preach to a younger generation, bring our kids up to love diversity, but will that make a difference?
I think it will. Raising awareness and changing your perspectives is the first and biggest step. Be aware that racism does hurt people...and feel free to share your experiences.
I was coming home from school, got off the TTC and made my way through the park behind my house. I saw these little adorable kids playing on the teeter totter in the apartment playgrounds. I smiled at them, thinking they were so innocent and cute, recalling childhood memories of being on those same teeter-totters. Then, the one little girl who must not have been a day over five belched out to me: "Ching chong, ching chong." She used her little fingers to slant her eyes and stuck her tongue out at me. Shocked and almost driven to tears, I remember thinking, "She is only 5..."
I had never felt so different, so mocked and so excluded in my entire life. And for the first time, I realized that I needed to be more aware of issues of racism. I needed to make other aware that it hurts to be treated like that - like you don't belong - like you are different and don't deserve respect.
As I grew older, I started to date a non-Asian. His family didn't approve of me because of my race and that made it even more difficult to deal with. At one point, I wanted to stand up for myself but I didn't. I sat there as his father called me a "chink" to my face and didn't say a word. i did it out of respect for an elder and out of respect for my bf but who there respected me???
Needless to say, we are no longer together but these issues are still there. Issues of racism have preceded my experiences and will continue to proceed into the future and affect my children. What are we to do? I have made my efforts to make people aware of racism through my papers, through sharing experiences with friends...but what else is there that we can do? We can preach to a younger generation, bring our kids up to love diversity, but will that make a difference?
I think it will. Raising awareness and changing your perspectives is the first and biggest step. Be aware that racism does hurt people...and feel free to share your experiences.
