...to be ignorant.
...to be young.
...to be naive.
I've watched as my students run around, smiles on their faces and mischief sparkling in their eyes. Demands for ice cream and "American" candy, or even that blessed "movie day".
I am so glad they are enjoying life
Meanwhile, as I'm asking them to quiet down and stop negotiating for "American candy that can't be bought in Korea, teacher, as that's cheating", I find myself hating that I'm an adult.
Especially when I wake up to headlines that read children are dying, women's rights have been rolled back by 50 years or that racist attacks have been renewed.
To know that they center around the U.S. President leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Mostly, because I want to throw up.
The presidency is supposed to be the person who looks out for ALL of their constituents. Not just the one's that they like. To ensure the country's safety and to be the face of America to other countries around the world. The President is supposed to be fair and just as they execute and enforce laws. Afterall, it is their fellow American that they are looking out for.
The President should not lead with fear or hate.
And yet...each day I read another headline that leaves me disgusted with the current President.
When I was a child, I never thought during all those days I was sitting in my history classes, that I would have to fight for my rights. (Naivete) Can you believe that? Somehow, history was given to me in ways that made me, a bi-racial half-immigrant/half-American woman, think that I wouldn't have to fight for my rights?
Now, I know better. I know soooooo much better. Not a single one of my identities is safe.
Not.
A.
Single.
One.
But are we surprised that I ended up believing such imaginations? I was taught white winning American history. I was told:
'Yay, women got their right to vote!'
'Yay, blacks got their civil rights!'
'Yay, America has the dream, come live here!'
Yay. Yay. Yay.
You know what history classes aren't telling us?
That despite women getting their right to vote in 1920, that it took until the late 1970s for domestic violence laws to be looked at and seen to be lacking. It took for a wife to suffer through 12 years of brutal spousal violence to set her husband and his bed on fire for there to be change. For even a semblance of our safety to appear.
That despite blacks "getting" their civil rights, we're still seen as instant criminals, no good, something to be rid of. Do you know what it's like to be scared of the police? The police! The people we're told in Elementary Schools would protect us from the bad guys, that if you have a problem you can go to them? What they didn't mention was that we were the bad guys.
That despite America having this 'great' dream and anyone can make it here, being an immigrant means you're "one of them". Other. That you will never belong. That you're "taking" all of the jobs even though you can't get any because your qualifications don't work in America.
It doesn't even end here.
Let's be honest, there isn't even an end in sight!
Young, innocent, oblivious, ignorant me was able to have a nice childhood. Not having to worry about whether a neighbor would call 911 because she was walking in a nice neighborhood (where her parents live). Not having to worry about being underpaid or be seen as a 'mad black women' if showing anything but friendliness at work. Not having to worry about her American-ness being in question since she sounds American and doesn't have an accent.
Despite that time being 'easier', I'm much better off.
At least now, I know what I need to fight for, what I must defend, and what I want for a better future.
#SaveOurToya
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