Dark

“What you see is what you get,” seems to be my life motto.

From the moment I moved west, I’ve gotten more and more solidarity. I ate alone during lunch time on my first school day. It didn’t change as the year progressed. People avoid me at all cost.

It’s almost as if I have a highly contagious disease that spreads throughout my surrounding. The halls part as I walk by, I’m not school royalty, I’m a jester. People point and laugh. They push me. Once they beat me.

They speak to me slowly and loudly, implying that I can’t understand English. I have an accent. It doesn’t help the situation. Outside of school is no different. The stares I receive at the market. I’m not here to steal.

In the elevator women grip their purses tighter and men grip their women closer. All these little details add up, their actions become patterns and I understand how I’m viewed.

Yes, what you see is what you get: if all you see is skin a shade (or two) darker, then that’s all you’re going to get. (via)