I didn't even know I was Asian

     When I was growing up I didn't even know I was Asian. I thought that I was just a white person, an American, a regular kid like everyone else. No one had ever told me directly that I was slightly different than other people. I wasn't told about my ethnicity or what traditions are considered Asian or White. I was never granted the knowledge that something about me was different or unique when compared to other people. 

  When I was a kid, I would remember watching cartoons and would apply myself as if I was like them. Until, I saw a cartoon named Hi Hao, Kai-Lan. It was a cartoon that I wasn't able to apply myself in because it was so much more different than American culture. Ni Hao, Kai-Lan was about a cartoon Chinese girl named Kai-Lan. She introduces and shows her Chinese culture on this TV show. I thought "Wow I wish that my life was just like this". I wished that I was Chinese and get to experience the Chinese adventures and cultures that Kai-Lan goes on. 

    After multiple years goes by, I was hanging out with my Asian friend in 7th grade Spanish class. He had told me about this "Asian alliance" thing and said that I am a part of it because I am Asian. It didn't strike me at first that I was Asian at that moment. Only after a bit of thinking after school that it did make sense. The chopsticks we use in the house, our family's belief in Buddhism, and the culture that our family participates in show me that I am Asian. I wanted to have a life like Kai-Lan but didn't realize that I already have a life very similar to Kai-Lan. 

    Up until that moment of realization, I had always treated everyone the same. I didn't know about ethnicity, race, or the color of the skin. I just only cared about who that person is and whether or not he or she was nice. I didn't care or knew that I was a bit different than other people. I just lived my life like an American or like a white person. I didn't isolate myself from people similar to my ethnicity, I was open to anyone and became friends with everyone. Everyone was American and that was good enough for me. 

    With this story, I just wanted to show that people don't have to seclude themselves in a group of people. People don't have to only hang out with people of the same ethnicity. Bottomline everyone is American. There shouldn't be any racial inequalities because we all are born in America and are all American. Isn't that enough to connect us?

Link to Stop Asian Hate:

https://stopaapihate.org/

Info on Ni Hao, Kai-Lan Link: 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0934701/