Out of all my experiences, I want to share one in specific.

In the 6th grade, this guy walked into the exam hall and saw he was assigned a seat next to mine. He stood there, faced the teacher and told him infront of everyone, “I don’t want to sit next to a burnt coal.” https://twitter.com/sarahmsenjohn/status/1290396282670862336">https://twitter.com/sarahmsen...

There are many parts of this encounter that I now can’t remember, but what I do remember is how the teacher reacted, and how i felt. He simply asked me, not even him, if I could change my seat. He made no recognition to what was said or how I felt.

I remember feeling so embarrassed and was close to tears in a class full of people, but I also remember feeling like I had done something wrong because of the nonchalant reaction of the teacher. Like my skin colour was my problem.

I am only sharing this now because standing up against racism is a role every member of society has to take on. Children follow examples and patterns demonstrated to them by authoritative figures, such as parents or school teachers. And people follow people.

Identify sayings, remarks or comments as racist and speak up when you see it. Don’t be obvious to it because the reality is, we’ve constructed a world where racism cannot be dismantled until each and everyone of us puts in the effort to do it ourselves.