Everybody sizing one another up as being fresher off the boat, more foreign and weird. These were critical determinations, often coming down to the strangeness of some kid's sneakers or shirt or haircut. I don't recall any of the sort of taunting and name-calling we had at the apartment complex, but there was patent discrimination.
Every example of anti-Asian discrimination in all three of my books is something that either I've experienced or one of my friends who's Asian has. That's sometimes a shock to people to realize just how common and pervasive it still is.
If you begin to say that you have to be a large enough group of people to receive standing under the 14th Amendment, then that means that the 14th Amendment suddenly becomes a piece of Swiss cheese, and it becomes a question of are you guys sufficiently large in number or perceived societal impact to be discriminated against and then to need to have equal protection laws.
It's about gender and race and a push for seemingly very, very small acknowledgement of womanhood or I guess I should say against a denial of womanhood. It was about the right for black women to be called miss and addressed as adults.
6mo ago
Underscored — save the words that stop you in your tracks.
