ASSIGNMENT 03

EN130 English Composition II

Both Sides of the Coin

I wish I could sit here and claim that I have never been the target of racism. I'm not saying that I

haven't been a racist instigator at times, either. Unfortunately, I'm unable to confirm this. It's

impossible to be perfect. I've been on both sides of racism, which is embarrassing.

When I was a kid, it was perfectly acceptable to make racist remarks and act in any way one

wished to. There was a lack of racial diversity in the playgrounds where I grew up. I can only

recall a handful of Hispanic classmates from when I was younger. That didn't happen until I was

in 5th grade, at the earliest possible moment. A shy little girl with a quiet smile, who didn't speak

any English, scared us and we weren't prepared for her. I can remember a particularly shameful

day when I followed my friends' lead when they began to target her. After a brief pause, she

began to weep softly on the ground while hunched over in a ball. She was being kicked and

yelled at by my so-called "friends" while they screamed at her to learn English or leave the

country. I felt remorse for what I had done. Neither she nor we had been harmed by her, and she

had not tried to fight us back. Then, when it was my turn, I shamefully gave her a feather-soft

kick. I didn't want to hurt her, but I also didn't want to disappoint my friends. I couldn't

understand why I felt so bad about being racist toward her at the time. Everyone else didn't find a

problem with it. My parents seemed unconcerned when I told them about the incident. Because

of racism, it appeared that no one cared about a young boy being bullied.

Lessons are difficult to learn and appear at the most inconvenient times. It was only after I

convinced myself that the entire world was racist that my world began to fall apart.

Unfortunately, my long-term relationship ended badly, and I was left with nowhere to turn.
When I asked my sister if I could live with her and her fiancé, she told me that I could bring a

roommate with me. My life had spiraled out of control, and I'd lost everything. Her fiancé and

her roommate were both fluent in only a few words of English. When she finally persuaded me

to leave my room, I was hooked like a child on sugar. How could I possibly be anything other

than? So many things to see and do! As if it were a celebration of life every day. The Hispanics

I've met have a contagious zest for life. That's when I first realized how awful racism made me

feel. It wasn't long before I began to understand the crude remarks that were directed at me. I was

welcomed and encouraged to learn and enjoy the culture by most of the Hispanic men.

Nevertheless, the females have been extremely racist toward me. That's what they thought I was

doing when they saw me as an outsider who was stealing their men. Embarrassed when they

started talking about me and didn't think I could understand. I would just stand there and do

nothing. What made me think that? While standing there, I'd think, "maybe this is how that little

girl felt all those years ago."

As a result, I can empathize with the pain of having someone reject you because of your race. I

don't want my children to grow up in this way. We can only alter our course if we take personal

responsibility for it. We must overcome our apprehension of the unfamiliar and open our hearts

and minds to those who are different from us. A part of my job as a mother of multicultural

children is to teach them tolerance while also standing up to those who insist on racism as the

only way to go about the world we still live in today.

THIS IS THE END OF ASSIGNMENT 3.