If you're like me and grew up going to a school where you were one of the only people of color, you may have had some experiences people don't always talk about.
Unfortunately, many people of color grew up facing racism and racial microaggressions — which Columbia professor Derald Sue describes as "brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral, or environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights and insults toward people of color."
Racial microgressions are unfortunately very common, even in schools. So, if you are a POC who attended a predominately white school growing up, what was your experience?
Maybe, if you were a Black student, you encountered microaggressions through comments like "You don't sound Black" or "Can I touch your hair?" or "Why are you so ghetto?" that you became used to hearing — and you now realize they were based on stereotypes and were not OK at all.
Perhaps you were the only person of color in your class and were left out of things simply because people thought you were too "different."
Or maybe you made a lot of good friends, but sometimes, you felt like you always "stuck out" being the only POC in your class.
Or maybe you had assumptions made about you — even by teachers — because of your racial background that were simply narrow-minded and hurtful.
If you attended a mostly white school where you were one of the only students of color, we want to hear your experience.
