The Asian American Boy Who Encountered Racism

He did not know it was racism

He is an American like any others.

This young boy that we will call Tommy is an American just like anyone else. He was born in the United States and has never been outside of the country. His great grandparents came to the United States as immigrants from an Asian country. They made their home in America. His parents and his grandparents were born in the United States.

Tommy lives in a suburb in a western state. He has a few Asian American friends, but the Asian Americans with whom he spends time are mostly his relatives. There are few other Asian Americans in his school or church groups.

That’s okay with Tommy. He usually gets along well with the other kids that he encounters.

Tommy is an only child. His parents both work so he sometimes goes to the Boys and Girls Club after school for activities while waiting for one of his parents to pick him up after they finish with work for the day.

Boys and Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) is a national organization of local chapters which provide voluntary after-school programs for young people. [Wikipedia]

One day a white boy at the Boys and Girls Club approached Tommy and called him a monkey. Tommy had never heard of anyone being called a monkey and did not know what it meant. It did seem to be a derogatory term because of the way the boy said it.

Tommy later found out that the term is used as a racial slur against people who are Black. The boy who called him a monkey obviously used the term against any racial minority even if they were not Black.

It was a rude awakening for Tommy to realize that he was the object of a racial slur. The boy must have learned it from his parents or someone else who is older. Tommy had no idea that monkey was anything else than the cute animals at the zoo.

Tommy found that racism does exist, and he could be a target.

Thank you for reading.