Personal Narrative: My Mexican-American Family
At around 10 years of age my family and I were coming out of a store when we heard an individual yell out, “Go back to Mexico, America houses no aliens!” At that moment, I felt as if this wouldn’t be the last time I would hear these words echo through my life, and I was right.
Typically every summer I assist my mother by cleaning houses for people who are considered affluent, however during the summer of 2014, I quickly became aware of what it felt like to be different. There was an elderly woman who we began working for, and as soon as I introduced myself she instantly asks what my ethnicity is. I politely tell her that I’m Mexican-American; however my parents are originally from Mexico. As her face became rigid, I instantly felt like the
loneliest person in the world. She gazed at me and said, “Oh, so you come from a family of aliens, no wonder you have such a dark complexion.” I could not comprehend what she had said, and stood there in a paralyzing state. It was the first time that I came face to face with racism on my own, and it was one of the greatest disconsolate moments in my life.
After having gone through an experience of this sort, I began to apprehend that the only way to move forward from bigotry is simply be accepting. Racism will always exist, however, it’s up to the victim to glance past their ignorance and instead educate those naysayers around them. Overall, I’m glad that this incident came into my life since it has made me willing to justify to others that all individuals are equal even though we come from diverse backgrounds.
Typically every summer I assist my mother by cleaning houses for people who are considered affluent, however during the summer of 2014, I quickly became aware of what it felt like to be different. There was an elderly woman who we began working for, and as soon as I introduced myself she instantly asks what my ethnicity is. I politely tell her that I’m Mexican-American; however my parents are originally from Mexico. As her face became rigid, I instantly felt like the
loneliest person in the world. She gazed at me and said, “Oh, so you come from a family of aliens, no wonder you have such a dark complexion.” I could not comprehend what she had said, and stood there in a paralyzing state. It was the first time that I came face to face with racism on my own, and it was one of the greatest disconsolate moments in my life.
After having gone through an experience of this sort, I began to apprehend that the only way to move forward from bigotry is simply be accepting. Racism will always exist, however, it’s up to the victim to glance past their ignorance and instead educate those naysayers around them. Overall, I’m glad that this incident came into my life since it has made me willing to justify to others that all individuals are equal even though we come from diverse backgrounds.