11

I'm sure I've been in situations where a confrontation in race has occurred, but any recollection of these moments eludes me. So I'll talk about what some would consider reverse racism. When I lived overseas, we spent a lot of time in rural areas. Places where people may have never seen any white people. Often times I would walk around feeling like I had a third arm. It was more apparent in the kids, but people would literally stop what they were doing and watch us walking around. I guess if I were older, I would not have cared that people were staring - what do you expect? But as a kid, one who had lived in America for a couple of years where staring is considered very rude - it became a "what am I doing wrong" thing. I guess it made me feel self-conscious, but I also understood that they weren't staring at me, they were staring at a white person. I understood that this was a very natural reaction, so I didn't consider it racist, and I still don't. Maybe some people will. Was the interaction positive? Definitely. It was, like all aspects of living overseas, an incredible experience. People staring at me wasn't enjoyable but I realize that it have me at least some understanding of what being the minority or the "weird one" is like. Because most of the time in America I hide behind my white, middle-class identity. After reading Wachtel's analysis I don't really feel any different about the experience. I think I understood what was going on pretty well. It wasn't really any lack of communication, just the novelty of white people. But I certainly think that if a real racist situation were to come up, I would certainly feel different about it because of reading Wachtel's analysis.