Angel

Natalia Angel
Yolanda Franklin
ENC1101
16 July 2015
The Girl Who Lived Four Houses Down
Race can be defined as a group of persons related by common dissent or heredity.
Everyone in this world has a different skin tone than one another, which makes everyone unique
in his or her physical appearance. Why does society suggest that it is a negative thing? is a
question that constantly keeps reoccurring in my mind. Racism is known as the hatred or
intolerance of another race or other races and it is something that I genuinely do not agree with.
When we humans are born into the world, the only thing that we give importance to is towards
the basics we need to live content lives. Those things, based on Maslows hierarchy of needs, are
self-actualization, esteem, love, and safety. Food and water are a given into that list as well. The
last things that goes through our minds are hatred and looking for physical differences between
one another. These thoughts are ones that are taught to us by people whom we have respect
towards because we end up thinking in that manner too. Society backs up this idea even more by
what the news decides to air and what the newspapers decide to publish because of the messages
that they portray involving race. It is mind blowing to me how children do not see the difference
that we have grown up being taught to see. Race is just a fact. Saying that someone is black is
like saying that the grass is green. It is simply a fact that has no elaboration. Looking at it in that
perspective makes me wonder what shaped society into thinking anything of it.
I was born in Colombia and my Colombian heritage is one of the many things that has
shaped me to being the person that I am today. The Colombian culture puts loads of emphasis on

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family and that is why I have grown up to being quite family oriented. Most of my family lives
in Colombia but there are six cousins of mine that moved to the United States like I did in search
of a better future. We all moved to the same small city in Florida called Weston. We decided to
do that so that we could count on one another and make this transition into a completely diverse
environment go much smoother. That is why growing up, I was always with my cousins and
looked up to them greatly since they were all a couple of years older than I was. At first, my
parents did not have stable jobs and could not afford to purchase a house so we were living in a
small apartment until everything began falling into place. After a couple of months, my cousins
and our families were all able to settle down in this new country and fulfill the dream of
purchasing a house. We all purchased houses in different neighborhoods but luckily, we were all
close by so being together was not a problem. Moving into this new neighborhood into a new
house that I could call mine in a country that was so foreign to what I have been accustomed to
my entire life is an experience that I will vividly remember for the rest of my existence.
It was a cold December day. The weather was the type that was cold enough to wear a
sweater but once in the sun, the coldness would disperse and the rays of the sun would warm
your body to be at the perfect temperature; not too cold nor too hot. This type of weather makes
me feel like a baby chicken laying in the nest embracing the soft warmth from the sun. The skies
were as clear and blue as the oceans that make up the Caribbean, which made anyone experience
the dire urge to spend the day outside being productive. With that in mind, I came up with the
best idea that I had thought of all day and decided to spend the day at the park with the intentions
of meeting new friends and enjoying the exquisite weather. Eager to meet people, I picked up my
scooter and headed towards the community park to find out the types of kids that inhabited my
new street. I guess that one could consider my six-year-old self a social butterfly because I would

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make conversation with anyone that was within about a ten-foot radius of me. When I finally
arrived at the park, I saw an extensive group of kids my age playing tag. I was ecstatic because
tag was hands down my favorite game of all time. I immediately headed towards the group,
introduced myself, and spent the entire afternoon playing with them. My ice breaking question
when I was little was always What is your favorite color? When I asked this one girl that
question, she responded by saying Lime Green. I was so surprised because that was my
favorite color too. After hearing that, I asked her other questions and learned that we were so
similar. We were so similar to one another that I felt as if I were looking into a mirror but instead
of looking at a physical appearance, I was looking at a personality. Her name was Kaitlyn. Right
away, I knew that we were going to become best friends and that is exactly what happened.
When the sun began to set, everyone started to head home for dinner. I asked Kaitlyn where she
lived and found out the she conveniently lived four houses down from me. We walked home
together and that is when my friendship with Kaitlyn began. That was such a wonderful day in
my childhood because I met one of my first best friends living in this new country and she
happened to be my neighbor as well.
My parents raised me to judge people on the way that they are as a person and nothing
more. A few of my cousins, however, were raised differently. You can say that they are
judgmental in negative ways. I did not realize this until later on in my life though. One of my
cousins, Sebastian, had the biggest house out of all of us and so his house was known as the
house. What I mean by that is that he had a pool, a trampoline, and a colossal back yard so my
family would always choose to gather there. My family would make every event a celebration.
Holidays, birthdays, and even half birthdays were always celebrated in his house. We would also
gather for the typical family barbeque about every other Sunday. One can claim that his house

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was where the party was constantly being held. The next time that my cousin Sebastian invited
me to his house to spend the day, I was beyond excited to bring a long Kaitlyn. You have to
meet my new friend Kaitlyn! Can I bring her to your house today? I eagerly asked Sebastian.
He responded with Of course! See you soon.
Kaitlyn was African American, which was completely normal to me and I had never
thought anything of it. My cousin Sebastian, however, did consider something of it. When I
brought Kaitlyn to his house that day, I was elated that she was going to meet all of my cousins
and their friends. Everyone that was at Sebastians house that day adored Kaitlyn; however, I
noticed that Sebastian was being weird the entire time. One could say that he was being reserved
and displayed signs that he felt uncomfortable. I did not think much of it and just let it be
thinking that he was just having a lousy day. A couple of days later, Sebastian invited me to his
house again but this time it was for a barbeque. Again, I asked if I could bring along Kaitlyn like
that last time because I genuinely enjoyed spending time with her. To my surprise, he said that he
had told a copious amount of his friends and that she could not come. I was bummed out but I
thought that if I put forth enough effort, I could convince my aunt, his mom, to let her come.
After thinking of a decent persuasive argument, I picked up the house phone and dialed her
number. My aunt answered the phone in a cheerful manner. Hello my dazzling niece! How are
you? Hi Tia, I really, really, really want my friend Kaitlyn to come to our barbeque, can she
please come? I asked. To my confusion, she responded by saying, Of course! I told Sebastian
to inform you to bring her because the more people here, the merrier! Okay thank you Tia, see
you later. I hung up and wondered why Sebastian would lie to me about that.
I went to my cousins house later that day feeling weird with him because he was not
being honest with me. When I arrived with my parents and Kaitlyn, everyone there was glad to

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see that she came and we all had a wonderful afternoon together. Sebastian, once again, was
being strange towards us and I still could not fathom why. For some time, I kept asking myself
Why is Sebastian so strange when I bring a long my best friend Kaitlyn? As I grew older, I
began to learn more about the controversial topics of race and slavery in school and the pieces
were starting to make sense to me. Thinking about it, the only difference between Kaitlyn and I
was our skin colors. I was white and she was black. That has to have been the reason why
Sebastian would act so weird whenever I would bring Kaitlyn along or even mention her. Being
best friends with Kaitlyn showed me that skin color has no impact on how a person is and people
of races that are not the common white skin color should not be treated any differently. The only
reason why people should be treated differently is because of the way that they are as a person,
not because of their physical appearance that they have no control over. Being able to have this
experience with being best friends with Kaitlyn and seeing how my cousin Sebastian reacted
towards it proved the point to me even more that judgments created solely on race are ridiculous.
Sebastian refrained himself from getting to know one of the most amazing people that I had ever
met because he felt uneasy about the color skin that she possessed. The color of someone skin
does not make them any less or any more of a person than anyone else in the world. With that
being said, experiencing this first hand has greatly impacted my view on race and how it relates
to racism.
Growing up with the concept of race in todays society makes little daily things stand out.
For example, the concept that is known as White Privilege would never be thought of as
anything if it wasnt for society. White Privilege is just a list of benefits that the white race has
that other races do not have. Before taking this class, I never even realized this at all. After
reading articles on the topic, I was shocked at how accurate it is. These benefits are literally

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everywhere. Every hotel comes with their complimentary shampoos and conditioners with
exquisite smells and in aesthetically pleasing bottles that make any guest that comes into contact
with the bottles want to shower immediately so that they could wash their hair. I never realized
that those shampoos are designed to be more for white people type of hair. The hotels
obviously have African American guests and unfortunately, they cannot have the same
satisfaction with using those hair products as a person of white skin color might have. African
Americans tend to have curlier hair and hair of different textures so they have to worry about the
hassle of bringing along their special hair care products when they travel. If an African American
happens to forget their hair products at home, there is not much that they can do about it. The
only solution to that problem would be to run to the store and purchase new products that are
designed for their hair type. If a white person, however, forgets their hair care products, they can
just use what the hotel has offered to them and continue with their lives. Another white
privilege that I never even realized is the fact that band-aids are designed to be the default shade
of nude so that they are not that noticeable on the white persons skin. On a black persons skin,
however, it is noticeable and it does no justice as it does to white peoples skin. There are just
countless little things like that that I have never paid attention to until they were brought up to
my attention. For white people it is a benefit but for black people it is a hassle and they just have
to work around it. These little things can evidently cause people that are not of the white race
sense as if they are not being thought of in Americas society.
When I thought about Kaitlyn and the times that we shared while growing up, there was
one memory that stood out to me in regards to this concept. When I would invite Kaitlyn on
weekend trips to Disney or to Miami, she would always tell me that her mom had to braid her
hair first so that she did not have to bring a long all of her hair care products. I never thought

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much of it but after being exposed to these ideas, it is intriguing to me how I witnessed this
without even noticing that there was more depth. In other words, I was not looking deeper than
the surface.
Considering the fact that I have blonde hair and brown eyes, people tend to assume that I
am American. I dont mention that I am Hispanic unless they ask so I guess that I could say there
is such thing as a White Privilege that goes beyond inanimate things like shampoo bottles and
band aids. Nowadays, when you are filling in charts of information about yourself, there is
always the question that asks Race? Many times, there will be several options, two being
White Non-Hispanic and White Hispanic. It generates curiosity inside of me as to why that
matters. In appearance, I look more American White than Colombian White but what
difference does that make of me? That is the same idea when comparing white people to black
people: There is no difference.