Temple showed me how to accept my ethnicity

According to a study by Pacer’s National Bullying Prevention Center, one out of every four students report being bullied during the school year, and 16% are targeted because of their race.

I am part of that statistic.

Growing up in a school system filled with the majority of white students, classmates bullied me for being Mexican-American.

Even when I was younger, I felt different because all I saw in my classes were white students. But it wasn’t until middle school and high school when I felt targeted for the color of my skin.

I’ve always been a very shy and introverted person. But sometimes to others, shy and introverted aren’t the first thoughts to come to mind when I’m quiet.

People in my middle school took the combination of my being a shy as well as Mexican-American as someone who didn’t speak or understand English. It actually happened twice within the seventh grade.

The first time it was direct, with the question: “Can you speak English?”

The second time, a boy mumbled some random Spanish words to me in gym class because again, he didn’t think I could speak English.

Throughout middle school and high school, a male classmate of mine would constantly call me by the wrong name. Even though we have been in each other’s classes for years, he purposely called me by stereotypical “Mexican” names. He also called me by the names of the only other Mexican-American girls in my high school.

Apparently, we all were the same person to him. I had also heard people refer to another Mexican-American student as “the Mexican.” This time no name was used.

These labels take away our identity because people start to not see us as individuals. The names and labels and assumptions that I didn’t speak English made me feel like an outsider. Although I grew up in the same town as them, some students didn’t treat me as someone who had always been a part of their community. They looked at the color of my skin and labeled me as someone who didn’t belong.

My parents told me stories where people showed racism towards them, like instances when customers would assume they didn’t speak English and demanded to speak to a different employee.

My parents were born in Mexico, but I was born and raised in New Jersey. Although I I lived in New Jersey all my life, people sometimes automatically assume I am not from this country.

Why is it that if someone is anything other than white, people feel compelled to ask them questions like: “what’s your background?” and “where are you actually from?”

I’m actually from New Jersey, thanks.

People with white skin rarely have to go through this sort of interrogation, though they could have a multitude of different backgrounds. After all, the ancestries of white Americans don’t begin in America. So why do people feel the need to ask these questions to people with darker skin?

The constant stereotypes thrown at my family and I often make us feel as we don’t belong in this country.

It’s as if we’re not wanted and no one cares about our lives here.

Misnaming and mislabeling Mexican-Americans is especially wrong because it is an attack on our identities. Having people call us “Mexican” rather than by our actual names implies that we are looked at as one group with the same characteristics, which is untrue. Although we share a common background, we have our own individual goals and dreams.

This not only applies to my family, but for all Latinos and anyone of darker skin who faces these prejudices and misconceptions.

Many students I encountered throughout school were taught by their parents to think of Mexican Americans as inherently different. They were taught to feel entitled to their positions at school, in their town, and in this country. The lack of diversity in many towns and schools in the US negatively affects students because they aren’t exposed to different cultures, which can ultimately cause someone to grow up ignorant.

For that reason, I’m glad I came to a school like Temple. Since the day I’ve been here, my experience has been completely different.

We have clubs and organizations here specifically for Latinos. Even in Philadelphia, there are celebrations and parades of Latino cultures. Now when I look around a classroom, I don’t just see one type of person. I see people of all colors, some with skin like mine, and some that are different.

Temple University is a wonderfully diverse school and I’m proud to be part of a community that accepts me for me.