Week 11 Learning Challenge: Empathy

So this week I decided to do a learning by H.E.A.R.T. challenge. Specifically one on empathy.

I visited a website called PostSecret where people confess some of their deepest secrets to help them feel better about themselves. There are some really powerful things here. One struck me real close to home though. The image of it is posted below.

"Fraudulent"

So, I am multicultural. My mother is Latino with strong family ties to Mexico and my father is Caucasian. I grew up with strong influences from both cultures. So I identify as both White and Hispanic, but I look 110% like a white male. I remember during my first year at OU I went to an HSA (Hispanic Student Association) meeting and felt so out of place. I was getting sideways glances and skeptical questions about my ties to Hispanic culture. This situation happened every single time I went to one of these meetings, eventually I just stopped going because of how discriminated I felt by people of my own culture and race.

My second year at OU, I made a friend and we were just hanging out one day when the topic of my culture and racism came up, I told him that I was Latino and I too feel the pressures of racism sometimes. He laughed in my face. Now this friend is African American so I thought he would understand. After an hour of trying to defend my background and convince him that I too can be discriminated against, he looked me dead in the eyes and said, "You cannot be discriminated against even if you are Latino, your diversity is invisible and you benefit from being White."

Needless to say, he and I do not talk much now. His words were extremely painful. I am Hispanic, but I am not accept and recognized by that community or others.