Dear Society,
I always grew up hearing that it's okay to be different. However, I quickly learned that just because it's okay doesn’t mean it's accepted. My mother would spend her valuable time throughout elementary school preparing meals and providing them to me right before lunch time so I could enjoy a warm tasty meal. However, I grew to despise it as everyday, I would receive mortified glances and humiliating comments as I opened the lid and allowed the aroma of cultural spices to escape. Some days I would eat in the bathroom stall or immediately dump it into the trashcan and starve myself just because I wasn’t prepared to subject myself to my peers’ criticism. I would go home and berate my poor mother, begging for a “normal” meal. Reflecting upon it, was my mother really at fault? Society continually boasts that its welcoming to all races however inherently treats them differently due to the slightest differences. Isn’t it hypocritical that when an American tries exotic foods they are seen as cultural and celebrated but if an Asian child does the same thing, he is criticized and singled out? I simply ask that as a society, we do better to practice what we preach.
-Anonymous
Comentarios