Reflections about our childhood! by

2024-05-15 00:57:34 UTC

not everyone is equal

The idea of race was never discussed in my household. I was told to stay away from certain groups because they were "bad". I was also taught the world is the way it is and we need to accept it.

2024-05-15 00:58:09 UTC

2024-05-15 00:58:13 UTC

no uncomfortable conversations took place

Conversations around race never happened! It didn't involve us so my parents/siblings never mentioned it.

2024-05-15 00:58:51 UTC

I went to an American public school and that is where the idea of race was taught. Race was never explicitly discussed. Rather, the practice that "we are all equal" without acknowledging how race is engrained in every facet of life. There were no "bias trainings" or things to be aware of taught in class.

2024-05-15 00:59:26 UTC

2024-05-15 00:59:45 UTC

it was almost like good vs bad set up - where if you one race, you could either be on the top or on the bottom - very black and white

Fear of being different.

2024-05-15 01:00:47 UTC

As early as kindergarten, I distinctly remember the deep fear of being perceived as different. I knew our names were not "normal" American names. I was afraid to answer simple questions, like what my parent's names were, when I knew my answers were going to be so "strange" when juxtaposed to the other kids' answers. Sometimes I would make up fake answers or pretend I couldn't remember just so I wouldn't have to say those "foreign" words.

I was made aware early on that I was different, having grown up in a predominantly white community and going to majority white schools. But at the same time, my immediate family was active in the local Filipino community and that was their main social circle. So I always caught between two worlds. Conversely my parents and other relatives also have a tendency to immediately refer to someone by their race when talking about them, even if that information is totally irrelevant to the story.

2024-05-15 01:00:54 UTC

2024-05-15 01:00:57 UTC

Never had these kinds of discussions

2024-05-15 01:01:11 UTC

I learned about race both from community interaction and the "idea" of race from school in the academic sense but lacked real world grounding

2024-05-15 01:01:35 UTC

Wondering why Pinoys themselves are uncomfortable/racist about the Blacks: 1.) My best friend's oldest sister who is a nurse in the US married an African American, and she confided in me that her parents esp. her mom was not approving. 2). My mother herself expressed she does not like them, but was quite gracious and friendly toour best family friend who was from Zimbabwe and was a Math prof. in our city. I actually told her that we are all the same human beings, just with a different shade of color.

Not big sharers

2024-05-15 01:02:18 UTC

I suspect that my answer will be similar to many others, but we did not talk about feelings. Not a touchy feely vibe. But I think this is pretty standard for first gen'ers.

No, it was a very top down, hierarchical dynamic. Anything verging on dissent or complaint would be treated as disobedience or dismissed as uniformed opinions of someone young .

2024-05-15 01:02:49 UTC

2024-05-15 01:04:36 UTC

Yes, we always had guests during meal times whileel growing up where our parents & the guests discussed varied topics. We were still young then, ing radeschool and HS, and we mostly lsitened Once in college/post grad. school then and moved to the US, we were not home anymore, so we did not participate in conversations of those sort with our parents.

It was only in school and perhaps popular culture (TV, music) where I was taught any concepts that people of different races should be treated fairly and that referring to them primarily by their physical features and cultural stereotypes was rude

2024-05-15 01:04:45 UTC

2024-05-15 01:05:56 UTC

See my previous. I actually 'told' (in a non threatening way) my parents that we are all the same / equal, & to practice "humankindness"

Not many deep convos overall.

2024-05-15 01:06:31 UTC

Definitely didn't talk about race, outside of the occasional racist offhanded comment from my parents. But it was that casual boomer racism, not anything too crazy. Certainly nothing approaching talking about Filipino-related racism. My parents were definitely oblivious to a lot of the anti-Filipino racism that we all endured. Or maybe they were aware and just didn't want to (or know how to) acknowledge it.