Reading the two articles and watching the video really put a lot of things in perspective for me. Not only did I become aware of my own privilege, I also became more conscious about other people’s experiences. As humans, we have this inane need to feel relatable or connected to another person. I feel like this can sometimes, unintentionally, trivialize some sensitive topics. When another POC makes a comment about how people are racist towards them, I’ll say “yeah, me too”, forgetting how hate crimes against African Americans, Middle Eastern (and South Asian) Muslims and East Asians are different than some of the micro-aggressive comments I have faced. I’m not saying that experiences like mine are invalid but I think we need to listen and understand the context before trying to lump us all in the same group for the sake of relatability. I know this is such a weird thing to bring up, but considering that most of us are POCs I feel like we can talk about this. It’s unfortunate to think and I wish it wasn’t the case, but I feel like POC solidarity doesn’t exist. The only time we relate or come together is when we point out how white people have made things bad for us, which is true. But beyond that, there’s so much prejudice in our communities against each other that we fail to come together as a group. And guess who benefits by pitting us against each other? Calling some of us “model minorities” and trying to create a hierarchy among us? The same goes for women too, men pitting us against each other, calling some of us “pure and worthy” and others “easy and loose”, making us compete in a competition where the winning prize is still a loss. It’s honestly so frustrating how the people in power turn us into pawns that fight amongst ourselves for the worst seat, and then take all the best seats for themselves.