No to racism

I too have been deeply affected by the racism agenda in recent days, to my core. Consciously and unconsciously, and that means that I want to do something with it. I feel the need to express it, in a way that feels right to me, despite the sensitive subject matter. At least for myself and for whoever wants to read it, to hopefully inspire others.

For me, this topic goes back to my youth in primary school. I always felt different at that fairly 'white' school. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against white and I don't know which word is the right one. After all, we are all human. With all a different skin colour and cultural backgroundwhat makes us who we are today. I often say that I prefer not to see colour. I try not to, but I can't ignore it, because colour makes people just beautiful and unique.

My own experiences

Back to my primary schools days. I was a small, shy girl who did not understand herself very well and, because of a language deficiency, often did not understand others either. There was also a big difference in appearance, because I really looked different from the rest. There were also many differences in upbringing and norms and values.

My parents had fled and did not yet speak the language well. They tried to get by here, having experienced the thin thread of life and death on the boat. You can imagine, a huge contrast. Only in recent years did I learn to talk about this and understand better what this period meant to me. It had a huge impact on the start of my life.

I have Asian parents. I emphasise that on purpose, because people with Asian parents will probably understand the following. And please note that this is not an accusation against my parents or against other first-generation Asian parents. In our entire community, there is a lot of racism towards other groups, especially the black community. May sound harsh, but it is my truth and therefore I feel it necessary to express.

To this day I do not understand why and that is why we must all talk about it and take action. I don't know yet how, because in our culture we are no talkers and emotional expressions are. It is just not a reason not to talk to parents, uncles, aunts, cousins and friends. Change doesn't happen overnight, but we can make it happen. first step to make it a nicer and more beautiful world together.

Breaking deeply rooted principles together

I am in favour of NO against ALL forms of racism. At the same time, I am in favour of taking things one step at a time. I think it is especially necessary now that the black community starts to matter. That we start to understand their pain and sorrow. That racism really is no longer acceptable in the year 2020 and that changes must break through deeply rooted principles, on a much larger scale. Because in the Netherlands, too, there is racism, visible and less visible. Perhaps even unintentionally, in veiled terms. It is sadthat we should still be dealing with such a topic in 2020.

So now is the time for me too to make changes in my generation, together with others. 

Anyone who is interested in this, please contact me. So that we can see together what we can do. Because I don't know what to do right now either.