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You’re 8 years old. Your 3rd grade class orders chinese food & your father delivers it. You are so excited to see your pops in school. He’s your hero. But apparently other kids don’t think he’s so cool. They laugh at him and mimic his accent. You don’t want to be Chinese anymore.pic.twitter.com/6vW9DXZK6x
You’re 9 years old. You attend ballet camp. Someone tells you that another girl *hates* you. She thinks your eyes are an “ugly shape.” You don’t have the vocabulary to describe why that’s hurtful. But now, you hate your distinctly Asian face. You don’t want to be Chinese anymore.
You’re 16 years old. It’s Halloween & 2 students come to class dressed as “Asian tourists.” They’ve taped their eyes back, strapped cameras around their necks and chucked up peace signs. You feel uncomfortable. When a teacher asks if you find the costumes offensive, you say no.
You don’t want people thinking you’re uptight. You laugh along with everyone else. You don’t want to be Chinese anymore.
You’re 17 years old. You’re off to college & you meet other Asians. They have pride that you never had. You meet a boy & he wonders why you don’t speak your family’s tongue. Why your favorite food is grilled cheese, not xiao long bao. You say your family doesn’t live that way.
But you know you rejected your culture a long time ago. You know you refused to speak Chinese & you remember calling your mother’s food “disgusting.” It’s fucked. It clicks. It’s a race to reclaim everything you’ve hated about yourself. For the 1st time, you want to be Chinese.
You’re 20 years old. You’ve spent the past several years repatriating yourself. You get your family’s name inked into your skin. That character is there forever. You won’t let anyone make you feel the way you did all those years ago. You love being Chinese.
You’re 25 years old.
You see a movie with an all-asian cast at a screening and for some reason you’re crying and you can’t stop. You’ve never seen a cast like this in Hollywood. Everyone is beautiful.
You’re so happy you’re Chinese.
#CrazyRichAsians #RepresentationMatters
EVERY SINGLE AFRICAN CHILD, YOUNG AND OLD, ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD, MUST READ THIS! 
Same script different cast.
Naw, similar script, but our is way more fucked up. Like 10093839483 times more.
How so? Just like the tweet above yours says, it’s the same situation, just with a different people. As an Ethiopian growing up here in America, this thread resonated. It’s not about “who had it worse”, it’s about the culture here making foreigners feel like they don’t belong.
I and every African American was born here and don’t feel welcome. It’s one thing for an immigrant. But people who built this country and were Slaves here don’t feel welcome. I understand the thread and feel for her but that struggle is nothing compared to our struggle.
She's not an immigrant. She was born here. The Chinese have some pretty compelling stories of brutal servitude in America too--those railroads didn't build themselves. But it's not a "Who Had It Worst" contest. Slavery "won" that one. We need to do better at cultural inclusion.
I’m half Indian. I remember when I was like 7 my friend’s dad told me I couldn’t play with her because I was Indian. I remember being told in the 5th grade by some boy to go back to my own country. I remember my white grandma telling me my Indian grandparents were going to hell
I always told my dad that I didn’t want to visit India and that I didn’t like Indian food. I always rejected the Indian culture because I didn’t want to be different. And now, at 20, I feel so stupid for doing it
My dada (paternal grandpa) just passed away on NYE 2017 in India. He died thinking I hated his culture and it breaks my heart. And I want to start learning about the Indian culture but it’s hard when you have told yourself for so many years that’s it’s wrong to be different
I’m so glad that you are speaking out about this. I’ve always felt alone in this issue. Knowing that other people have felt this way makes me feel like I almost start to forgive myself for all the awful things I would say when I felt like I didn’t want to be Indian
Any advice for immigrants parents that could help their kids avoid some of what you felt? Thanks for sharing your experiences. Oh, watching the movie on Sunday.
Don't deny local culture to force Indian culture. It's a lot easier to embrace both when you don't feel obligated to choose 
- Immigrant Son
Yes. What I meant to ask is what can I as a parent do or say so that my kid feels comfortable with herself if she finds herself one side or other side of two cultures or some where in between.. and be confident that’s ok.
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