Middle, high school and college students have a chance to win $500 in Schneps Media’s Your Voice, Your Viewpoint by sharing their stories of when they experienced racism.
I first experienced racism when I went over to my neighbor’s house. I was about seven or eight years old. They were Asian, and I think one of their family members was over. My brother was already over there, and he asked me why I had come. I came because I just wanted to come and hang out with them too. He said their family member (maybe aunt) is racist; she doesn’t like Black people. She looked disgusted when I had come in, and that saddened me because I was so young and was thinking did I do something? I ended up leaving and was confused as to why.
Another instance of racism happened in fifth grade. The teacher asked us all to state an opinion and then to form a line. I remember saying something along the lines about how I thought country music was not good. Later, sometime in the library, one of my classmates who was white walks up to me and says, “rap music isn’t good.” Mind you in fifth grade, I didn’t listen to rap and I still don’t really care for it. He was basically thinking, well, because she’s Black, she likes rap music. I was very confused after he said that because it didn’t even apply to me. I never realized that he was racially stereotyping me until years later.
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3 middle school students and 3 high school students will each be awarded a prize of $500 by a panel of Queensborough Community College students. Submissions will be accepted through Friday, Oct. 30, and winners of the prize will be announced on Nov. 6.
Submission can be emailed YourVoiceYourViewpoint
