My reclaimed slur is Indian.
For the duration that I was in middle school, a lot of people would use my ethnicity against me; to control me and bring me down.
Even today, day by day a lot of my friends call me terrorist, Muslim, 7/11 worker and "Aman did 9/11" as quite bad and offensive. Of course I know they are all jokes and we often laugh at the dry humor but it is always a rough reminder that I am one of, if not the smallest minority in this school. Latinos can hardly be considered a minority especially in southern California. Other Asian groups which are more referred to as the "typical" Asian which includes but is not limited to ethnicities such as Chinese, Japanese, Filipino etc. But Indians are always seen as not part of that category. Indians are always seen as excluded by many people to not be Asians. When anyone asks me what my race is and I respond with "Indian" they often ask where it is. So many people don't even know where India is, though it is the country with the second largest population. For the longest time ever I just wanted to be considered normal by my peers and it always just a base desire to fit in. As I've grown older however and as I've become more mature I've realized that there is nothing wrong with being a minority and I've learned not to be ashamed of who I am. Now I am proud of my ethnicity. Now I am not ashamed of who I am.
For the duration that I was in middle school, a lot of people would use my ethnicity against me; to control me and bring me down.
Even today, day by day a lot of my friends call me terrorist, Muslim, 7/11 worker and "Aman did 9/11" as quite bad and offensive. Of course I know they are all jokes and we often laugh at the dry humor but it is always a rough reminder that I am one of, if not the smallest minority in this school. Latinos can hardly be considered a minority especially in southern California. Other Asian groups which are more referred to as the "typical" Asian which includes but is not limited to ethnicities such as Chinese, Japanese, Filipino etc. But Indians are always seen as not part of that category. Indians are always seen as excluded by many people to not be Asians. When anyone asks me what my race is and I respond with "Indian" they often ask where it is. So many people don't even know where India is, though it is the country with the second largest population. For the longest time ever I just wanted to be considered normal by my peers and it always just a base desire to fit in. As I've grown older however and as I've become more mature I've realized that there is nothing wrong with being a minority and I've learned not to be ashamed of who I am. Now I am proud of my ethnicity. Now I am not ashamed of who I am.