Racism is a topic not many like to discuss. It is very serious and it can occur daily to minority populations and other ethnicities.

Currently, I’m on a trip to Mexico and staying in Guadalajara overlooking the city. But not that long ago, my family and other extended family members took the drive to Puerto Vallarta, a beach city off the coast of the Pacific Ocean.

When we arrived we had our first encounter with highly judgmental people. My family and I went to get dinner and while we waited we conversed with one another. But standing in the corner of the stand were two people.

While we ate, those two people more than likely a married couple stared at us. They began making faces and even scoffing when one of us would walk nearby. When I spoke English for the first time they both looked at each other and shrugged, almost shocked that I spoke “their” language.

On the next day of our stay, every one of us went to the store. Immediately after going up the escalator, we were greeted with the disgusted face of a woman.

Ignoring that we weren’t welcome in the country where all of us originate from, we continued shopping as normal. I even gave up on speaking Spanish and as I did, another couple stared at me like I was an art piece they were trying to figure out.

After the three oddly familiar encounters, we went to the beach and continued our day as planned. We talked, swam, and did everything that we had hoped to do.

When everyone got back to the Airbnb that we stayed at, we all decided that it would be nice to just swim in the pool. It wasn’t that late, so we figured that we would be that much of a bother. Apparently to the entitled people behind us, it was.

Out of nowhere, a man comes out from the apartments behind us and comes out of his residence and to the stairwell that opened out to the pool.

“Can you shut the [censored] up,” tThe man said.

At first, we didn’t think much of it, we all thought that it was my dad playing some sort of trick on us. But, once again we were mistaken.
“Your kind are the [censored] loudest people in this country,” the man said. “It would be better without your fat kind taking up all of the space.”

At that moment I looked at my mom stunned. I was confused about who this man was and where he thought he was. Clearly, the man had some unresolved issues, because he didn’t even wait for a response before he opened his mouth again.

“That’s what I thought, silence,” the man said. “I bet you people can’t even understand me.”

I think that’s what really ticked everyone off that was swimming. After that, all of the adults climbed out of the pool and began yelling at the man. They started to curse and began “educating” him.

After the man was put in his place, three men, a young woman no older than my parents, and an older woman came out of the apartment.

The young woman began punching her hands and making threatening remarks to my family. Then the men began spitting over the ledge, their horrible aim made it difficult for me to not laugh. At one point they even threatened to call the police on us for being so difficult.

After starting the whole thing, the man just went back in. His posse followed him in as well, except the old woman who had an embarrassed expression on her face. But I didn’t feel bad for her, as she gave me an obscene gesture with her finger..

Racism exists everywhere. It can occur in a country where the racists aren’t even from. Everyone’s experiences are different but can share common characteristics. Racism should always be taken seriously, but may be handled differently than mine.

Racism is real and is only becoming more consistent. It is something that divides populations, rather than uniting them.