The POC Card

I'm disappointed, to say the least. Every time I think about the type of people I have had to encounter in my little study abroad group I get upset with myself for being so naive to think that only old white men sitting in office didn't have the ability to recognize their privilege and correct their ignorance. But no, there are people our age that think the same way.

Imagine, as a white boy, having the nerve to tell a person of color not to "play the POC card." Then imagine not having any remorse and leaving that altercation prouder than ever. More than anything, I've been feeling haunted and traumatized by the overwhelming amount of ignorance and white privilege. Even now, the only thing that the people that interacted with me on racist terms are worried about are their reputations. They're worried about how a blog post could ruin their careers. They're worried about the fact that I sent a text message rather than confronting them face to face. They're upset that I called them out on benefitting from the things that my culture has provided the world (like meditation and yoga). But they're not upset about their actions - they're upset about the repercussions. A weekend after the incident, I had decided to skip the day trip that was a part of our program. My resident director had asked me if she could talk to the group about what was going on. While I was not there, the three amazing friends I made here described it to me as a sickening conversation. A conversation about race or rather the repercussions of being racist by all white people. All the characters were present: Karen Jr. crying about how she's a quarter hispanic, "Mr. I can't do any wrong" explaining how he wasn't that aggressive and just so much more. He shows little remorse or recognition of wrongdoing and he refuses to try to change when there are obvious reasons to do so.

Let me get a few things straight. You can not tell someone else especially not a minority, the appropriate reaction or method of confrontation about an incident related to prejudice or discrimination. To think that you can do that, is a huge failure on your ability to recognize your privilege. Now, I'm not going to tell anyone how to identify themselves and whether it is correct or not. But for this girl to utter the words "as a minority.." is absolutely preposterous. As an Indian American, as someone who's blood is 100% Indian, I tread lightly with the word minority, because where I come from in New Jersey I'm not really a minority. Furthermore, as an Asian American we fall into the category of "model minority," and as such I haven't experienced the injustices within the system like other POC have. Recognizing how the world perceives you is very important. There are many people that although are not white, are white passing and as such don't have to encounter the same experiences as a person that is visibly a person of color. It is absolutely unacceptable and extremely disgusting to weaponize the term minority and use it for your own gain when you don't deal with the same bull shit that ACTUAL minorities do.

I would think very carefully before backing myself into a corner with people like this. People that have no remorse or understanding of their ignorance and lack of awareness. Nevertheless, they really messed with the wrong person because I get things done. I've been talking to administrators and people within Rutgers to make sure that these people suffer the consequences that they deserve. I will continue to do so when I get back to Rutgers as well. Lucky for me, almost everyone is on my side.