When I was younger and living in Dubai, I had a few weird experiences with people not treating us right because we were a little different from them but I never really thought about it much because well, I was a child. I moved back and forth from Dubai to Mumbai a few times during those years but I never really noticed much because it wasnt to a high extent. Then we ended up coming to Canada and moving here. The first few months I was here I didn't really get out of the house much and I would just stay indoors and have fun in my little bubble that I had created. I was sad and just missed my family too much but as I went into school and started actually meeting people it was great, amazing even but then I noticed it and as I started going out more it just kept getting worse. I didn't expect to go through something like racism in such an developed and forward country. When I would walk down the street kids would come out of their car windows just to scream dumb things like indian or asian (It was worse than that). This happened to me 4 times in the span of 3 weeks. I was devastated. Not just that but being treated differently even when I would talk to someone. I had people enunciate words to me and speak in a slower tone because they just assumed I couldn’t speak english. One day I sat down with some friends and family and my mom started telling everyone a story about a bus driver who treated her differently because she was brown. Everyone else joined her and we all shared stories about things that have happened to us because we were Indian. It broke my heart to see that so many people were going through the same things I was. I absolutely love the culture that I grew up in. We have so many different types of traditions and practices and I adore them all. I wish for a life of peace and kindness for not just me but everyone. I hope that people accept everyone as time goes by and that we come to a point where everyone is seen as an equal.
‘’In a racist society it is not enough to be non-racist. We must be anti-racist.’’ - Angela Davis Gurleen S
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