Saturday, October 25, 2014

Ebola.

I will never forget when a customer tried to tell me that the person who died from Ebola here in the US was from Africa. That he was an African. And I wanted to tell him that not every Black person he sees is from Africa. Just like how not every Korean, Japanese, Chinese or Thai person is from Asia. Just like not every white person is from England.

Maybe, if we taught critical thinking, proper grammar, how to back up what you say with facts and not just have a baseless opinion, etc... Maybe, the world wouldn't be such a mess.

And, no, I don't care that he was a man from Africa. That is completely beside the point. We always say people come from "Somewhere Else," ESPECIALLY if they aren't WHITE. Its the notion that just because someone has dark skin that automatically makes them from "Somewhere Else." That if someone has different characteristics they must be from "Somewhere Else."

I wore Hijab for several months and I was asked all the time "Where are you from?" and was met with "No, I mean, where were you from originally?"

The notion that differences mean "Somewhere Else."

YOU can't be from here, because YOU are different.

And that bothers me.

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