This had happened with my father. . . .

I have a white cousin and her fiancé is Mexican. When I first met the guy I remember talking with some friends and saying "yeah he's really nice for a Mexican guy." Nobody even looked at me strange when I said this. They all carried the same beliefs as me, or else they were too embarrassed to say anything. Now days if anybody had said something like this to me I would have to bring it to his or her attention. I feel it would be my duty to make them understand just what they were saying. In fact this had happened with my father and I not too long ago. We were watching the television when some program came on about minorities and the role they play in the American society. Well he started expressing his views, which were making me sick to my stomach, and I explained my side. It turned out that he could be very stubborn in his opinion. So rather than fighting it I ended up asking politely if he would just not talk about how he felt on this topic. I ended up feeling better about myself that day because I stood up for something I believe in to a person like my father. It was more difficult than it sounds.

 - T, Beaverton, OR