Racism can also exist without white people – Gulf Today

Racism can also exist without white people – Gulf Today

Racism can also exist without white people

4 hours ago

A protester holds a 'Black Lives Matter' sign at a rally in Foley Square on Thursday in New York City. File/Agence France-Presse

Jean Lee, The Independent

I spent adolescence in a sleepy Maine town where my Korean parents worked blue-collar jobs and experienced everything from microaggressions to assault. White classmates and teachers regularly commented on my race, asides which became as customary as the forest thick with evergreens and the fresh pine air. Teenage girls wagged their fingers in my face at the mere mention of race, and teenage boys parked in my parents' driveway, sending me unwanted texts. It was a challenge to find friendship without judgment, and it took me until adulthood to learn that attraction could exist without the other person's shame.

For a while, racism in my day-to-day life directly centered on white people and their gaze. Even though my mother and I talked about anti-Blackness in Korean communities, it wasn't something that came into daily conversation until I moved to New York City as an adult, often spending time in groups without white people. As the child of immigrants, it was vital groundwork to understand that