I want to talk about the different levels of white supremacy that I have experienced in my lifetime. I identify as an African-American woman with Puerto Rican heritage, but I developed a large part of my fundamental values in Okinawa, Japan. Coming back to America (where I lived until I was 8), I’m really shocked at the blatant racism and even the microaggressions. I’ve always been aware of racism, especially in Japan but there are different levels when compared to American racism too. It is noticeable that across different cultures darker people suffer the most. I hadn’t even realized how living in Japan has impacted my self-perception, my self-image, and that affects my confidence. This manifests itself in anxiety and depressive episodes that can span over a few days, weeks, or months. Lately, I haven’t really had any issues with it, but a lot of my personal experience of feeling out of place, large, and awkward stems from the subtle racism stitched into Japanese culture that I have experienced over the course of 7 years. In America, I experienced racism by seeing the n-word carved into a bathroom when I was 5 years old. When I got my wisdom teeth out, the lady nurse at the dentist’s office (I have no idea what the official term for it is) asked me if my sister was on drugs because I told her that I was babysitting her daughter. I’m not exaggerating. I’ve also witnessed racism in the different doctors that I’ve had. I’ve always felt more comfortable and understood with woman doctors, especially women of color. I remember reaching out to an older white man who was my doctor about feeling depressed. He told me that it would come and go, and I can get medication if I want to (if you watch Orange Is the New Black, that’s the same thing Healy told So-so!). It wasn’t until I had two black women treat me, one a doctor and the other a nurse practitioner. The office was run so orderly, efficiently, and I felt comfortable and safe. I was able to confide in the nurse about things that I never told anyone, and it was the first time in a very long time that I actually felt like the things I was saying were important.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Georgia Southern chapter.