I have very many questions that linger in my mind, yet I am afraid of asking them lest I be labled racist, sexist, or one of a million other -ists. For this reason, I’d like to explain something about myself.
I grew up in a small, lower-middle class suburb in Omaha. I was then raised from age 9-onward in a tiny rural town south of Kansas City.
I do not have any relatives who are not white. I do not have any relatives who are gay. I do not have any relatives who are disabled. I do not have any non-Christian relatives. I do not have any relatives who are not originally born and raised in America. While I have vacationed or traveled in nearly every state of the Union, I’ve never left the country.
The school I went to had only 5 black kids, 4 asian kids, and about a dozen mexican kids. I would call them hispanic, but, their lineage was 1 generation removed from Mexico, so the label(?) is correct.
If I ask a question or make a statement that seems brash, harsh, general, stereotypical, it is not done so out of malice, but ignorance. I am insanely curious about persons who are disables, of another race, of another ethnic background, of another religion, of another color, of another country, of another sexual orientation, or, in other words, not exactly like me. I have had almost zero exposure to non-Christian, non-American, non-White people, and so I am curious.
Now that I’m in college, I have friends who are all these things, but don’t ask them questions for fear of their response. That’s why I ask them here, on the boards, because it’s alot easier to expose my ignorance to thousands of people than bridging that gap with someone I know in person.
So tell me about yourself.
Thank you.
–Tim