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As a teenager in SE Portland, I hardly ever have to examine issues of race, because I simply don't run into people who aren't white very often. It is easy for my friends and I to insist that "We aren't racists!" because we never have to face the issues. My neighborhood is literally all white, and it distresses me that, after growing up in this environment, I feel like a racist. I don't mean that I participate in hate crimes or act negatively towards people of a different race from my own; my racism manifests itself in that I feel that I need to act carefully around people of other races so I don't accidently offend them in some way, or make them think that I am a racist. I am even uncomfortable writing this, lest something I say be misconstrued, and I offfend someone. This seems backward to me.

posted 4 years, 9 months ago
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