Dear You Who Profiled and Bullied Us,

I am a fortunate, first-generation South Asian born and raised in Texas. My parents made a conscious decision to ensure I grow up outside of the Asian community in Houston, Texas, and somehow we ended up in a conservative town called Tomball, Texas. They wanted me to have an unbiased childhood where I learned what it is to be an “American,” since their child was now born to a country which they had viewed as the diverse and open-hearted “Land of the Free.”

Even though we lived just outside of the city limits, the people were shockingly polar opposite to the current demographics of the oh-so diverse City of Houston. I have had a relatively privileged life and never had to be concerned with where my next meal would come from (at least my parents never made me aware of it) or if I would be violently targeted at school or in my community. Even then, the effects of racism took a major toll on my self-perception and sadly, the community which I have grown up in.