I'm the only Asian student at my school and I feel out of place.....racism?

Question

So, I'm the only Asian student at my high school and I feel really uncomfortable. Many times I have been insulted because of my race by white and black students. They keep saying I'm Chinese even though I'm not. I'm Vietnamese. And it really hurts my feelings. I wanted to cry but I held it in so that no one would see. I didn't tell anyone- not my friends or parents. I'm tired of holding these thoughts and feelings inside. This has been going on since 7th grade, now I'm in eighth. Please help. I don't know what to do.

by the way, the students that made fun of me were high schoolers

I'm not going to pick a best answer because all of everyone's answers were very good. You guys made me feel a lot better and more condifent, so thanks! If I could pick best answer for all of you I could!

Answer 1

Don't pay any attention to those kids. It's been my experience that the racists/bullies during middle school & HS don't really grow up to be successful, and as long as you focus on your studies and not on them, then you'll have the last laugh. Most important, remember that you're a beautiful person, and don't let anyone make you think otherwise.

Answer 2

That is a quite good question and, even though i'm a white aussie, i will vouch for very simple motives in the back of this - they DO value education, they usually DO work particularly fairly tough. There's also mostly a powerful experience of now not looking to let the loved ones down, given that the whole household is by and large investing (relatively literally) in a single youngster's schooling. Now not looking to perpetuate gross stereotypes but you might be proper on your remark that youngsters from Asia do have a tendancy to work relatively fairly tough at their schooling. Now, a tip to working out that is to spend some time in Asia eg China, India, Korea, Indonesia and you will to comprehend why education (particularly a western education) is viewed an high-quality opportunity and one not to be sniffed at. Alas this is some thing we don't necessarily respect in additional affluent nations like u.S.A., Canada and Australia the place entry to developed schooling is a correct not a privilege. However, there also needs to be a line drawn somewhere - kids have every right to be children and just have some fun. Have a seem at stats on suicide rates in Japan among scholars, its a bit sobering.

Answer 3

Parents may not get it, or want to hear it. Especially of they are immigrants and are trying so hard for a better life for you.
Guidance needs to get involved, and I mean help you out!
If you are in as rural and/or segregated a place as I am now (I'm from Long Island, jsut outside New York City, originally, where there' plenty of everybody in my towns!), then you do need to tell your parents first.
You may one day have to just tell them to sotp being the oddballs, because most of America knows better than you backward jacka****s!
And then, get your numbers ready to prove it.
This isn't the way suburban and urban kids do things.
This isn't the way New York City does it, and that's for sure!
And since most people in America live in urban areas, it makes sense that most Americans at least know how to learn about each other and keep their fears to themselves!
Oh, what? They're not scared? Then why don't they grow up and DEAL? Why don't they care to just ask you things, and share their own stories? Hmmm?
They'd be afraid that something might actually CHANGE?
Oh, heaven forbid. Heaven frobid they should learn to be decent people.
You know what? You can't really say these things first. You need to go through the proper channels, and try to get the staff to do something, etc.
If all else fails, print this out and tell 'em a good old white girl with friends from everypart of the world but Alaska, Arctica, and antartctica, who knows more Americans than they'll ever meet, said so!
At least make sure to tell yourself these things everyday, honey!
And come on by my neck of the woods!

Answer 4

ok so youre chinese, I guess you could assume they are british, irish and nigerian. Find the people who will accept you for who you are not where youre from, these people will be much better friends. Ya know you could just let this go, you know just ignor the ignorance that surrounds you. Maybe (if anyone is interested)you could teach your peers about vietnamese culture. You did not say if you were born in Vietnam or just have the heritage, either way it is sad that this sh** still has to happen. Hang in there stay proud of your heritage. Things will get better. Heres a thought: WHEN YOU BECOME A DOCTOR, LAWYER, ASTRONAUT, COMPUTER GENIUS whatever, many of the people who insult you now will probably flipping burgers at the local burger doodle. best of luck to ya wish I could help more.

Answer 5

Sweetie, hold tight. Kids can be very cruel and tease those who are different. It's not fair and right now you are the new kid on the block and a easy target. Talk to your parents and teacher/guidance counselors. They understand more than you know. Don't hold in these feelings. If anything escalates or gets physical be sure to tell that too. Don't let little comments turn into harrassment or let it get physical. Your parents and school are there to protect you from that.

After that, try getting involved in some extra-curricular activities like sports, drama club, chess club, etc. Find kids with similar interests and trust me, they will see that you are a great person. Best of luck!

Answer 6

Just Remember, your not different, your Unique, and Unique is cool, who wants to be like everybody else.

I remember when I was growing up in the S.F. Bay area. There were one or two Asians and one or two Hispanics and no Blacks at my school. I remember kids that teased the Hispanic kids and I could never understand why, and I asked one of the teasers. They Said "Because, She's Mexican" and it still just didn't make any sense to me because I was never taught by my parents to be a bigot.

One kid probably started the teasing at your school and the other kids with weak ego's followed suite. Now it's probably just perpetuated because your an easy target and they know they can upset you and it wouldn't even matter what race you are, just anything so they can feel superior. The Kids that tease you are trying to make up for they're own weaknesses by trying to make you think they are superior to you. Are they superior? I bet not. It's tough but you'll really just have to learn to ignore it. If you can play sports, do that or anything your good at. That will bring up your self esteem and make you less of a target for the bullies, its not as much fun to tease someone whom is self assured.
Hope this helps you understand whats going on.

Where do you live that there are so few Asians?

Answer 7

I am a white person who cannot tell what race people are. I am very sorry for this. I know that I personally mean no disrespect to anyone. I 100% believe that we are all equal. If I was in grade 7 or 8 and said chinese i know that i would have meant no disresect. So maybe some of your classmates dont know how to tell. Do you have opportunities to educate them by doing a presentation about your culture? Like when its time to do class speeches?

Answer 8

Try your best to hang in there this year of 8th grade. When you start attending High School next year there should be more diversity (I'd assume - I don't know where you live and also public/private schools will have differences) to really balance things out. Everyone wil be "different" so you shouldn't really stand out as much as you do now.

You'll encounter people with small minds all your life. Just be the "bigger person" in all endeavors/encounters. You're in the eighth grade. Most of your classmates will grow out of such thinking within the next decade or so. But right now you're all kids.

Answer 9

It is offensive, but we honestly don't know. Immigrants have a sense of pride about where they're originally from that Americans don't, so it's easy for us to generalize and draw conclusions. I never know where anyone is from, so I don't ask. I did this one time because I couldn't tell if the girl was Japanese or Black, and it kept screwing with me and I finally asked. The girl was Japanese. I don't know if she was offended or not, but I just had to know. But I never would have just called her something that she wasn't.

It could be something that people aren't really thinking about, or isn't that personal. Many times I was the only Black around, and I was asked questions that were ignorant, or dealt with assumptions that were out of line, and yeah it hurts, but you get through it. It's probably like 10 times worse though if you're not even from here though, I wouldn't know. That may or may not help, hope it does ...

Answer 10

Politely tell them that you are Vietnamese whenever they call you Chinese. A lot of kids don't know that there is a difference. They need to be taught, and you must teach them. They think everyone who is of Asian descent is Chinese. Be consistent. They will eventually get your point and use the correct term. If you think they are doing this to be mean even after you have corrected someone twice, then go to the principal and tell him/her what is going on.