This digital art piece is meant to represent the racism I experienced as a child at school, especially during lunch, when I would bring my mom’s homemade food to school. I loved my culture, and I loved the food my mom would make me. But the other kids weren’t familiar with my culture, and they would make insensitive remarks about my food that would make me feel embarrassed to have brought it. Once, someone told me the chả lụa I brought smelled like stinky cheese. I stopped bringing the delicious meals my mom would make, all because the other kids would make these remarks. I don’t think it was the kids’ fault for being that way. They were just never taught that there were other people out there, with different cultures, foods, and traditions, and I want to raise awareness around how important it is that parents properly teach their children these things. If we want to stop racism, we should start with educating our kids better.
