I grew up in a town that's upwards to 50% Mexican. Not trying to stir anything up, but from my experiences the population tended to be pretty xenophobic in terms of not being Mexican/Latino. So being the only Asian kid I got shit on a lot. I had friends and fit in with them, but there was always a cloud of uncertainty and a sense of not belonging, like I was always on guard. It also didn't help that I'm pretty talkative and my personality is frequently described as "quirky/weird" to my chagrin. Even when the overt racism dissipated, I got ostracized more often than I would've liked, since girls are girls and I didn't fit into the correct mold. It felt like I wasn't good enough, inadequate.

Even as I get older it's hard for me to say that I got bullied as a kid because I know others have had it much worse, but growing up in that town/school was no cakewalk either. I still that my past complaints have no validity because it's "not" racism since I'm from a model minority, which is bs. As I look back I am grateful for my experiences because I've learned to be comfortable in my own skin. I'm proud to be who I am because I learned to deal and move on from these things. (although there's one girl out there I'll never forget)

But would I ever want to go through running home and questioning the color of my skin or the size of my eyes? Being told that I don't have a right to be sad because my family was more financially well off than hers (although my parents were immigrants who came here with absolutely nothing and managed to build their way up with handwork)? Being laughed at when speaking my mother tongue to my grandmother who knew no english while the other girls can speak spanish all day in class, though they're fluent in english with not a word said?

People can learn from past abuse, but bullying, racism, and hypocrisy combined are something I don't want my future kids or any other kids to go through no matter what beneficial thing might happen in the future.