How It Feels to Be a Minority
Never have I ever felt that I have an ethnic identity, and I have never known what it is like to belong to a minority group up until I came to Hartford. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines minority as a group of people who are different from the larger group in some way such as ethnicity or religion (“minority”). Via two encounters in Hartford, I realized that I also belong to an ethnic group, which had never determined my idnentity before.
In Hungary, the population is not really diverse. The number of immigrants in Hungary is relatively small as well as the number of minorities. There is only one minority group that is significant in terms of number compared to the overall population: the Roma minority. According to statistics, 10% of Hungary’s population are Roma but the exact number is disputed because most of the Roma minority claim that they are Hungarians, thus it is difficult to provide exact data based on census (Őri, Spéder 2012). As a result, I belonged to the “majority” of the Hungarian population, and I had never been treated differently due to my ethnic background in my …show more content…
As I passed by two African American high school girls, they called me names. First, they looked at me and said “what are you looking at?” and then they eyed me up and down, and said, “Look at that cracker’s coat.”I was surprised by the incident, especially when I found out what cracker means—a racist insult used by African Americans against whites (“Cracker”). I felt very vulnerable because I did not understand their unfriendly and aggressive behavior. However, being aware of the racial issues that are present in the United States made me understand the situation better, and the girls’ perception of me. It was still a memorable moment, which raised awareness to my “white”
Never have I ever felt that I have an ethnic identity, and I have never known what it is like to belong to a minority group up until I came to Hartford. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines minority as a group of people who are different from the larger group in some way such as ethnicity or religion (“minority”). Via two encounters in Hartford, I realized that I also belong to an ethnic group, which had never determined my idnentity before.
In Hungary, the population is not really diverse. The number of immigrants in Hungary is relatively small as well as the number of minorities. There is only one minority group that is significant in terms of number compared to the overall population: the Roma minority. According to statistics, 10% of Hungary’s population are Roma but the exact number is disputed because most of the Roma minority claim that they are Hungarians, thus it is difficult to provide exact data based on census (Őri, Spéder 2012). As a result, I belonged to the “majority” of the Hungarian population, and I had never been treated differently due to my ethnic background in my …show more content…
As I passed by two African American high school girls, they called me names. First, they looked at me and said “what are you looking at?” and then they eyed me up and down, and said, “Look at that cracker’s coat.”I was surprised by the incident, especially when I found out what cracker means—a racist insult used by African Americans against whites (“Cracker”). I felt very vulnerable because I did not understand their unfriendly and aggressive behavior. However, being aware of the racial issues that are present in the United States made me understand the situation better, and the girls’ perception of me. It was still a memorable moment, which raised awareness to my “white”