Summary Of Label Us Angry By Jeremiah Torres

Label Us Angry by Jeremiah Torres shows how difficult it is for oppressed people to breakout of the path or stereotype that society has created for them. Carlos and Jeremiah have very different triggers and coping mechanisms; any one decision can affect a person’s whole life.
When we are taken in by a label, we are taken in by opinions and others’ beliefs. Labels categorize, are designed to make you feel like an outsider, become verbal abuse, narrow our perception of someone. Using any word as a label blinds a person’s true identity. It covers the qualities a person may have. “To them, we looked like lowlifes, chinks, gangsters, and punks. In truth, we were two Filipino Americans headed toward Stanford and Berkeley, living in a town that swiftly disowned us with four reckless labels after raising us for ten years.” …show more content…
As they grew up, they excelled in school and found diversity. While celebrating Carlos’ seventeenth birthday, they experienced their first interaction with racism. They were subjected to racial slurs and labels, and sprayed with mace then suspiciously questioned about being in a gang. “The cops came within minutes with advice with the mace…They questioned us soon after, asking if we were in a gang. I returned with a blank stare with a silent “no”. Apparently, two Filipino teenagers finding trouble on a Friday evening raised suspicions of a new Filipino gang in Palo Alto-yeah, all five of us.” Someone attacked them and they are talked to like they were criminals. All of us have been victims of not thinking before speaking aka “word vomit”. What type of assumptions have people made and you because of the way you look, dress, skin color, height, or