On Racism

I’m not stupid. More then anyone, I anticipated the racism I’d face in china but it doesn’t make it easy. On the first day of school when my boss introduced me as the new ‘foreign teacher”, I witnessed critical eyes from the Chinese staff/ There were no smiles or welcoming gestures/ No questions about where I come from or who I am. Rather, a tentative “hi’ was followed by silence. In that silence I felt the divide between myself and my homeland.For the first time I wished I were white in the fullest sense of the word. Little did I know that I’d feel this way many times in the coming weeks…