Racism through the eyes of a 13 year old
Why are people of color seen as something so different than white people? I have asked myself this question for a while now and the only thing I have come up with is racism.
I’m a light skinned Mexican, but my family is mostly brown. The color of my skin does not stop me from feeling looked down on. I was born in the United States, but have Mexican blood inside me and that will never change and I don’t want it to. So why must I feel like I just don’t belong in this country? Why does it feel like my family and I are not wanted here?
In school, I sometimes hear “Oh look, it’s the Mexicans” and that makes me ask myself, “Why am I here?”. When Trump became president, everything got worse for Latinos. We were called rapists, drug dealers, and told we brought crime. The crime has always been there. White cops use their skin and badge as a shield and feel like they can use the power they have over us to and go as far as to kill someone.
The murder of George Floyd. This made my eyes open and I realized that we live in a country where no matter how hard we fight, we will never have equal treatment or see an end to racism. I was very lucky to be born a citizen, but that doesn’t stop me from having to use my words carefully because I don’t know who I can safely tell that I am Mexican.
Why must kids of color have to choose their actions or words extremely carefully? Why must kids go through the fear of being killed due to the color of their skin? Why must we live in a society where white people get opportunities handed to them while the rest of us have to work twice as hard for them? Why must parents give their kids rules for going outside so they don’t get killed? Why must we worry about surviving another day in this country? Why are we looked at differently? Why do they look at us like we don’t belong here?
All of these questions I have only been able to answer with one word, RACISM. I don’t normally say much about this type of stuff, but after all we have been through this year and after all people of color have been through, I thought that it was time I speak up. It is time we get some answers to these questions. It is time we got equal treatment and justice for everyone who was killed because of the color of their skin. I am proud of being Mexican and I encourage everyone to speak up!
- Jennifer, 13, Daughter of Mexican Immigrants
