It really pains me that I'm going to have to sit my daughter down and have this talk with her. The talk where I explain to her that some people will attack you just because of the color of your skin. You see, my daughter is a Japanese-Filipino-Mexican-French-American. And, even though she was born in Redwood City and raised in Half Moon Bay, she looks different from most of her friends and will PROBABLY be subjected to run-in's like this, just like my wife has, and just like you might have.
Check out the video below (NSFW). There is a huge traffic jam of people just trying to get to 92 after an awesome Memorial Day at the beach. A lady trying to make an illegal right hand turn yells a bunch of racist comments to the lady filming. Right in front of her young kids. It's unbelievable.
I want to be angry at this lady, but I feel sorry for her. Racism isn't born, it's learned. In that same way, I feel like it can be unlearned. Someone had to teach her this. I don't share this video to put this lady on-blast or turn it into a witch-hunt. I'm sharing it to remind you that racism DOES still exist. Some of us live in a bubble and think that its over. It's very much still there. And it's not always directed at minorities either. Racism exists in every culture, in every country around the world, against everyone.
I would just love to live, and have my daughter live, in a world where the color of your skin doesn't matter. More love and acceptance, less anger and ignorance.
By the same token, try to get to a place where you are unaffected by what people say to you, there are jerks everywhere. I mean EVERYWHERE. Be bigger than they are.
Keep in mind as well that racism isn't always overt or angry(like this lady) when you marginalize someone or make them feel less American. The next time you encounter someone who looks like they're from another country, it doesn't mean they are.
THINK before you ask: "Hey, so where are you from?"
My wife gets asked that all the time.
Guess what: she's from San Jose. Born and raised.
Crazy, right?