I am ethnic Vietnamese and have had many, many occasions where I have suffered because of stereotypes and generalizations. I remember when I went into labor with my first daughter and my husband and I couldn’t find a hospital willing to help to deliver my baby because I’m Vietnamese (finally we miraculously ran into a doctor who knew my husband and he saved us by taking us to his clinic).
Before I just lived with that struggle accepting my fate as someone who would have to live as the victim of prejudice but now I feel much more confident and accept that I have to be determined to show people that I am me…I am not the entire Vietnamese race.
PEACE BRIDGES also forced me to think about my own faults and the part I play in feeding conflicts and I’m sure that I’m a better person for it. Also because of the course, the few people in my life who really get to me because of my ethnicity- with small jabs and insults- no longer have that power. Yes, they still insult me but I don’t allow their insults to control my feelings.
No Longer Have That Power
-Female NGO worker, C2
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