Anonymous | nationality & ethnicity: Lebanese
“Yellow”.
I associate yellow with happiness, warmth and joy,as well as the sun
and sunflowers. I also associate it with the big yellowgrass fields that I
used to see everytime I'd visit my hometown duringsummer.
“Asian”.
Honestly, as maybe racist as that sounds, Asian tome was only
confined to Koreans, Japanese, Chinese, Malaysians,etc. I feel like these
are the only people who are referred to as Asians.I hate to say this and
I no longer think that way, but I also feel like thereare stereotypes that
usually define Asians: like being more talented thanyou, having family
issues (especially around the desi community), beinggood at math, etc.
Ethnicity|part1.
My father is Lebanese, and my mother is from Iraq,so I'm half Lebanese
and half Iraqi. And so, the culture that I grew upin was a mix of the
cultures that existed in these 2 countries. I havebeen shamed for being
" mixed " before, and that definitely influenced the way i looked at my
ethnicity throughout my childhood. Also, living ina world with very
Americanized media (specifically talking about moviesand shows), my
feelings of shame about my ethnicity increased asI wanted to fit the
image I was seeing on screen. After becoming a teenagerand gaining
access to the internet and social media, I was ableto see how beautiful
it is to be proud of where you're from and that becamemy predominant
associated feeling with my ethnicity.
Ethnicity|part2.
I think my perception of my ethnicity has definitelybeen influenced by
the people and the environment around me and whatthey thought of
where I am from. As I said in the previous message,some people had
shamed me for being mixed. There was also alot ofnegative
stereotypes (particularly concering lebanese people)where I am living
(that we are greedy, lazy, materialistic, criminals..)Also,usually, in alot
of American shows, the bad guy can be shown as someonewho comes
from my ethnicity, and I believe as a young girl,that also affected my
perception. I think my feelings of shame were a negativeresponse to
racism, as i thought that I should hide this partof myself and try to
change it because of the thoughts and people aroundme.
Differ from Asian stereotype(s).
The only ways I differ from it that I can think ofis that I am very pale
and my eyes are big. In terms of what I think aboutAsian stereotypes,
they're obviously very damaging to the Asian communityand I dislike
that fact that I grew up believing them. Even theperhaps 'positive'
ones (like being good at math) can have a harmfuleffect. They also
cause feelings of shame to those who might not fitthe stereotype as
they might think they're not 'asian' enough.
98
mchaos
(mchaos)
#1