10. “I’m Japanese American (my mom is Japanese, born in Japan, and my dad is Japanese American). I grew up in western, ritzy Connecticut. Racism was the worst in elementary school.”
“I got bullied a lot for having a ‘flat face,’ for my hair being darker than everyone else’s, and for my eyes. If I, god forbid, slipped up and spoke Japanese at school, I got laughed at. I got made fun of for liking Sanrio things (like Hello Kitty). It was also teachers — I got pushed into advanced math when I was solid, but not great at it, so I just felt overwhelmed by math all the time. I had chronic headaches from stress, and my parents met with the principal to possibly transfer me (I ended up not transferring, and it got better in middle school, where I wasn’t the only Asian kid anymore).”
