*formerly posted on "Welcome, International Students!" blog
Two weeks ago, I was looking at my Facebook News Feed and reading what my friends and former classmates were sharing. One post caught my attention. It was a heartfelt article written by a colleague of mine at Xavier University. We were both Student Senators at Xavier and had spent several hours talking together about campus leadership and campus life.
His article "A Stranger Called Me a 'Terrorist' and I Didn't React" is a good reminder about the difficulties and learning experiences that our world sees on a daily basis. I know that I have been in his shoes before, and it hurts. It hurts to not feel welcome. It hurts to be attacked without any regret by the attacking party. It hurts to be publicly shamed and embarrassed, especially without just cause.
It reminded me of a time when I was at my friend's birthday party with my older brother and other friends. At this particular sports restaurant and entertainment venue, we were in line to play the popular basketball arcade game "Pop a Shot". While watching the people in front of us, a drunk player dropped a couple of his basketballs, in which one of his friends picked one up and tried to shoot the ball at the basket from where the rest of their group was standing. Confused, the player questioned who had thrown the ball. Then, he turned and looked at my brother and blamed it on him, saying a racial slur.
This made everyone in my group angry. We were offended. The person carried on with his racial slurs. One of his friends added, "if they don't like it, they should go back to where they came from." While these were just words, this hurt badly.
Thankfully, we had the support of our friends. Thankfully, other people who had witnessed what had happened also were supportive of us. A situation that could have turned into violence stayed peaceful enough. Just because some people view the world with prejudiced eyes does not mean that everyone does.
As Pavan stated in his article: "I am a lawyer, a former civil servant, a citizen, and a military officer, and even if I was none of those things, I am a human deserving of basic human decency and respect." We are all humans deserving of basic human decency and respect. Be as positive as you can be and do your best to withhold this decency and respect. Stand tall and feel welcome, because you are welcome here. This is America.
Two weeks ago, I was looking at my Facebook News Feed and reading what my friends and former classmates were sharing. One post caught my attention. It was a heartfelt article written by a colleague of mine at Xavier University. We were both Student Senators at Xavier and had spent several hours talking together about campus leadership and campus life.
His article "A Stranger Called Me a 'Terrorist' and I Didn't React" is a good reminder about the difficulties and learning experiences that our world sees on a daily basis. I know that I have been in his shoes before, and it hurts. It hurts to not feel welcome. It hurts to be attacked without any regret by the attacking party. It hurts to be publicly shamed and embarrassed, especially without just cause.
It reminded me of a time when I was at my friend's birthday party with my older brother and other friends. At this particular sports restaurant and entertainment venue, we were in line to play the popular basketball arcade game "Pop a Shot". While watching the people in front of us, a drunk player dropped a couple of his basketballs, in which one of his friends picked one up and tried to shoot the ball at the basket from where the rest of their group was standing. Confused, the player questioned who had thrown the ball. Then, he turned and looked at my brother and blamed it on him, saying a racial slur.
This made everyone in my group angry. We were offended. The person carried on with his racial slurs. One of his friends added, "if they don't like it, they should go back to where they came from." While these were just words, this hurt badly.
Thankfully, we had the support of our friends. Thankfully, other people who had witnessed what had happened also were supportive of us. A situation that could have turned into violence stayed peaceful enough. Just because some people view the world with prejudiced eyes does not mean that everyone does.
As Pavan stated in his article: "I am a lawyer, a former civil servant, a citizen, and a military officer, and even if I was none of those things, I am a human deserving of basic human decency and respect." We are all humans deserving of basic human decency and respect. Be as positive as you can be and do your best to withhold this decency and respect. Stand tall and feel welcome, because you are welcome here. This is America.