我在美国高中被凌霸经历和如何应对 You just can’t… because you are Asian（双语）
As students stood around me waiting for the school buses to arrive on a crisp fall afternoon, I overheard quiet whispers behind me, getting louder and louder as my peers began to discuss Donald Trump’s bid for the 2024 election. Soon the criticism began: my peers were upset about his immigration policy and his abrasive character. Suddenly, one of my classmates called out “Guys, let’s see who is a Trump supporter at our school.” A crowd of students soon began to form around that classmate as she pulled out her phone and started scrolling through Instagram. As she went through the list of followers, she yelled out the names of the students that followed Donald Trump. Someone said, “I knew he is a Trump supporter, that’s why he is always so obnoxious.” Someone else said, “No wonder she has no friends.”
As I sat behind them, my heart was in my throat; I prayed that they would not see my name on the list. “Emily?” she said, “Wait, do you guys know that Emily follows Trump on Instagram?” “How can she do that?'' someone said, “doesn't she know she's an immigrant?” “Shush," another girl whispered, "she's behind us.”
Everyone began looking at me. I could see the confusion in their eyes. My face went red and I didn't know what to say. Then the instagram-scrolling girl whipped around and commanded me to “unfollow Donald Trump.” When I asked why she responded, “You just can’t… because you're Asian.” I tried to explain to her that I follow both parties and their senior figures, including Donald Trump and Joe Biden, on Instagram because I want to be able to compare what they are posting. But she walked away, shaking her head and refusing to even have a conversation with me.
In the next couple of months, gossip began to grow from “Emily follows Trump,” to “Emily is uneducated,” and to “Emily hates Asian immigrants.” I heard people talking about me as I walked in the hallway. I waited and waited for someone to ask me about my decision to follow Trump on instagram. However, no one, not a single person did. Many automatically criticized me without understanding the context. I was seen as a betrayer of my own race.
In a moment of increasing political polarization, engaging in controversial discussions as a young person is becoming difficult. A set of implicit codes has come to define one side of a controversial topic as “morally right.” Even respectfully questioning that side is often described as “offensive,” which creates an unhealthy learning environment. Young people can only think critically in an environment in which they are encouraged to explore new ideas, investigate different philosophies, and seek to interrogate specific differences. However, the current, prevalent desire to shield young people from controversial ideas or present only one side of an issue has fostered stereotypes and generated a culture in which young people rarely think for themselves.
After the instagram incident, I started a discussion platform in my school’s newspaper called “Think Critically” that allowed students to engage in discussions on controversial issues. During those discussions, I shared the story behind my decision to follow Trump on Instagram and I was intrigued by the stories and perspectives of others, regardless of whether or not I agreed or disagreed. Many classmates sent me texts saying that the platform gave them a place to genuinely share the ideas that were often considered “unacceptable” by other students.
Controversies will always exist in America because, in a democracy, people are inevitably going to disagree. There’s a difference between responding “You just can’t….because your Asian” and responding with a precise criticism that respectfully pushes me to defend my political beliefs or my decisions to consume particular media. This respectful dialogue is what drives democracy forward, slowly, through many difficult discussions, and ultimately to more compromise and unity.
（文章图片来自网络）
ID: moonpolar
以防以后再次发生这类的突然被失联（参考前文）
陌上美国推特：@MoshangUsa
前文导读
《经济挑战：熊市征兆、高通胀、高油价和美元贬值危机》
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《马斯克换党支持GOP；国会民主党证人说男人能怀孕》《乌克兰大饥荒与加雷斯·琼斯》
《谢幕！他带走了美国篮球的一个时代》
《曾是言论自由胜地，却步入思想统一发动机，怎么改变？》
工作号微信ID: moshangUS
主编微信ID: moonpolar
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