“It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.”
― Audre Lorde, Our Dead Behind Us: Poems
Once in your lifetime, it is important to be a minority when you have a chance to go abroad. In my own experience, this is my second time to stay in the United States for the long term since my abroad study during college.
Living abroad has been exciting but also allowed me have a glimpse into what those who are considered a minority in my own country struggle every day. Try being Tibetian in China. Or Asian-American in the U.S. Or an LGBT in any country in the world. You’ll be more likely to be judged by your appearance than by your personality.
If you have never experienced any forms of discrimination towards you, you’re lucky. But it also means that you will never understand what discrimination means in the deepest levels. You think you have never done any forms of discrimination against others. The truth, however, is that we all do, whether we realize it or not. If you’re living abroad, it is a great opportunity to take a deeper look at your own behaviour and thoughts.
Even though no one can’t be perfect, there is a huge difference between trying to better yourself and not trying at all. Kindness always makes difference.
Here are several shots I photographed on a Sunday morning in Plaquemine, Louisiana.
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