THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM | Weighing in on Interminority Prejudice

Over the summer, I managed to save up for a trip to California, one of the places in America celebrated for its liberalism and openness. Ignoring the sinking feeling that few other tourists would look like me, I set about to explore the Bay Area. An exciting aspect of traveling being souvenir shopping, I googled the best place to buy souvenirs, which took me to San Francisco’s Chinatown. Hopping from shop to shop deciding on what keepsakes to buy for myself and my family, I noticed a trend – each store I went into, a shop attendant would be close behind, watching my every move. When discussing race relations in America, whether it’s in a seminar or on social media, racial prejudice is often framed as only a “white problem.” Indeed, having lived as a minority in America for only two years, the first image that comes to mind when I think of racism in America is of torch-yielding white supremacists akin to those who were protesting in Charlottesville, Virginia.