My First Real Post. (My Thoughts On Racism For My MGP And Something Lighthearted At The End.)

 Hi,

So I'm starting this back up because of my AP Lang class.  I needed to have a bibliography and I didn't know what to put in it because I got a lot of information from my life or what friends and family have told me. So I talked to my teacher and I'm going to put this as one of my sources. So this first post is going to be mostly serious. My project is about racism so I'm going to mainly talk about what I have gone through and what my friends/family have gone through. It's going to be mostly a rant. So let's get started!

 Racism is something I wish would just end. Looks wise, I look white. I am half Mexican though so that puts me in an interesting spot. I am put in the in between. I am "too" white to "understand" the struggles of being Mexican in America and "too" Mexican to pass as a fully white person. In reality my grandpa immigrated here so I have seen that struggle. I have also spent half of my life in a Mexico influenced area of California and at home we still are influenced by the Mexican culture. I don't know Spanish though I am learning and have always wanted to learn how to speak it to feel more connected with the culture and I can see it makes my grandpa happy to see me speak Spanish. So in short I do feel closer to my Mexican side than my European/American side. 

Because of this I have heard some of the craziest things. I have had people laugh at me or not believe me when I tell them I am Mexican. I have also been told that I shouldn't worry about racism because I am pale. I have also seen a shocking amount of racism in the Spanish classes I have been in. Specifically the one I am in now. It is crazy the things people will say in a class about a culture. People using terms that aren't racist but still should probably be left for just Mexicans because it can be insensitive. In that same class I've heard the teacher defend other students' insensitive statements saying Spain shouldn't apologize to Mexico because of how long ago it was by saying it was their opinion. I have also just this week, heard one of my favorite English teachers tell someone with an accent that they spoke english really well. This person then responded saying that he hoped so because he taught it in a University. This was very sad to hear from a teacher I love because of how insensitive it was. I have friends who are people of color complaining of people who talk to them this way. People will say they speak english well or they will talk slower to them as if they aren't speaking english fluently back to them. This also happened to my own mom who while taking me to a doctors appoint had to sign a paper saying she was denying a translator for the appoint even though she showed no signs of speaking another language besides the color of her skin (which also proves nothing because a lot of people of color don't speak another language aka me). 

Another thing is what happens to my friends and family. I have had family followed in stores just to "make sure they don't steal anything" which is crazy because they don't treat their white patrons the same way. I have also heard friends talk about how teachers will double check that they aren't cheating while they don't double check white students to see if they are cheating. These friends have also have never had a history of cheating. It hurts to see people I care about get treated like dirt just because of the body they were born in.

Okay, thats going to be the end of that rant for now. I can keep going but it's a very heavy topic and can be hard to talk about personal experiences with it. Plus I want to have some lighthearted things for my first real post. That previous stuff was mainly for my assignment. So first I want to say I don't know how often I'm going to post. Hopefully often but we will see how everything unfolds. Also from now on I want my posts to mainly be silly. For example the experiments we do in my chemistry class and how we probably failed it. Also the crazy things we do throughout the week. (Honestly this is kinda funny to write like I'm talking to a ton of people when in reality this is mainly started because of one friend who will also probably be the only one reading this.)

So my lighthearted things for this post is my friend helping hunt down a pin for me because I asked them to. That was amazing of them. Also my chemistry teacher was in a very good move and was joking with us today. He rearranged our desks for the first time this year and played the floor is lava with us. Also I am half way done with my 6th book of the year. I hate the love interest though because he is rude to her and doesn't let her do the things she wants to. Also I have started to do a fun team like version of the Taylordle. Which is just my friend who is a swiftie and me who loves wordle putting our heads together to figure out the answer. 

                Anyways thats it for now so bye!

                        -Autumn