In Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s essay “What’s in a Name?”, describes an experience where Gates and his father encounters racial remarks that seemed ordinary, but later was viewed extraordinarily. “Hello, George … Doesn’t he know your name, Daddy? Why don’t you tell him your name? Your name isn’t George … He knows my name boy … He calls all colored people George.” (6). Similarly, I encountered an prejudice experience like Gates in elementary school, where I was named differently based on the appearance and ethnicity. As I reflect on the incident, I am constantly thinking about how I could’ve done things differently to face against such racial remarks and bullying.
Growing up in a small city, where crime rates are one of the highest among others,…show more content… I did not noticed for many years that I was named “Chino”, although I gave them my name. It made me furious as they disrespected my race just because we were different. Later on the day, I had a discussion with my asian friends to ask if they were also made fun of. “Yeah, they always made fun of my small eyes and called me Chino although I am Laos,” said by Akira. Akira was one of my close friends, as we grew up together since the second grade. The asians within our class started to take “revenge”. We stopped helping them in class, took the tetherball courts, and stopped playing with them. From that day on, we never treated those people who called us “Chino” with any respect.
Now that I am in highschool, I see the situation differently and feel like I could’ve did something about the racial remarks. I found it so hard to believe, because during sixth grade we were learning about the American history and racism. Especially, our fellow peers and the older children should’ve known that racism was something that affected people greatly. If I am ever confronted with the any racial remarks now, I know that I will speak up for my pride as I will always represent who I
