Post #2

Most people I encounter have a lack of understanding/knowledge about the different people that come from different places of the world. They categorize people into four general groups: Asians, Hispanics, Blacks, and Whites. It is a bit odd that they have a hard time believing that a person who looks a certain way was born in a location where the majority of people don't particularly look the same. I was born in India however my background is Tibetan. I permanently resided in New York when I graduated from the fifth grade. I never really thought about race until I was in the 7th grade. I never told anyone that I was born in India. I know it sounds a bit silly but I was really self conscious about where I came from. When I first came to the sixth grade, I told a few of my classmates that I came from India and everyone really didn’t pay much attention. Then I began to realize something among the students: They would always make fun of Indian students. I was not one of them because I obviously did not look the same way as the others but I witnessed some really nasty remarks that those Indian or Bengali students faced. After seeing some of the students being discriminated, I was afraid to tell people that I was born in India and actually lived there for ten years. I was confused. I didn’t know whether I was Indian anymore although a huge part of me was connected to India. Elements of Indian culture have affected the person I am to this day but for a while I was just confused if I was no longer Indian. I never told anyone where I was from originally because I was afraid to be discriminated against and I guess the reason why they never bothered asking me was because they thought I was from China because of my “chinky” facets.
I always faced some kind of ridiculous remarks that random strangers have commented on the streets, subways, and just public areas in general. People would always look at me, or my family and start speaking in a language that is supposed to be Chinese. They end up saying “Konichiwa.” It is a bit funny sometimes because I know I am not Chinese and that’s not the language I speak and the people are the ones who are making a fool of themselves especially when they were intending to say “Ni Hao”. Once I wondered to myself if I was just considered Chinese. Since many people don’t know about the different varieties of Asians, they end up saying, “They all look the same anyway.” Honestly, I can tell the difference between Koreans, Tibetans, Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos, etc. It is really frustrating to hear when people say that because we actually do not look the same. Yeah, we do share similar facial features but we are not clones. I am the kind of person who thinks a lot and that made me confused again. I wondered if I was just considered Chinese among other individuals and I really didn’t like the feeling of not knowing who I was. I felt as if I was living a lie because what people assumed was not the true me. I am Tibetan and not Chinese. Sometimes it really sucked when I told people I was Tibetan and they had completely no idea where it was placed on the map. China took over Tibet in 1959 and now Tibet is a part of China. When people realize that Tibet is sometimes not found on the map because of its invasion, they end up responding with something like, “Oh, so you’re Chinese then.” I get so frustrated because I am not Chinese. Tibetan culture is different from Chinese culture. We speak different languages, eat different foods (not all foods obviously), pray to different Gods, and have different beliefs. People have always tried to tell me that I’m Chinese now and I refuse to agree. I won’t forget my Indian culture either. Sometimes I’m not sure what to categorize myself because I have different cultures that define who I am and even though it is confusing, I do not think it is necessary to think that you need to as long as you remember where you come from.