I am a student at a private liberal arts college in the United States. I am also the first in my family to attend college straight out of High School, and my family is nearly crippled by the debt obtained through this education. It is because of these two factors, that I know I am not better than any American who has not benefited from the type of education that I have had the privilege to. I also know, because of these two factors, that I have a lot to prove as a Latina at an institution such as the one I attend. I have to be better than expected, because the expectations for someone like me are so low. That being said, I am now going to talk about a terribly upsetting encounter I had on the Metro North on my way back to school yesterday.

I allowed an older white couple to sit with me on the train, after which neither spoke a word to me. I offered to help the wife of the couple with her bags, as she was obviously struggling to put them on her overhead rack, to which she vehemently shook her head at me and simply replied: “I’ve got it.” Once finished with her ordeal, she returned to her seat and didn’t acknowledge my presence. I continually glanced over at the couple while smiling at the pair, prompting them to start a conversation, yet neither took the bait.

Ten minutes later a young white female, who was holding a Yale law bag joined us, to which the wife took notice. Moments after, the woman began to speak animatedly to the white female. The two discussed college life, government, and other similar topics while making no effort to include me. I attempted to join in on the conversation about 3 times, to only be shut out once I finished speaking.

There are many problems with this scenario, which all gave me the drive to start this blog. The first being that I was too upset, and frankly afraid to speak up against the actions of the 3 people surrounding me. I was so used to being silenced by actions such as these that I remained… Silent. The next issue is that these two women assumed that I, being a Latina female would not be able to relate to and speak about what they were speaking about. I, of course, couldn’t be a college student as well, and I wouldn’t be educated enough to speak about government policies. The last problem I will emphasize (though I encourage you all to find more issues with this) is that the family, as well as the girl just expected me to humbly give them room to sit with me. My subordinated status allowed these 3 people to assume they could sit with me, and didn’t have to be gracious toward me for it.

I encourage anyone who is reading this post to do things differently. To the student of color that faces a similar issue, I encourage you to speak up. Let your voice be heard as you proudly challenge the expectations of those around you. Ask “Why wasn’t I included in this conversation?” or “Why did you begin talking to this other person without second thought, yet held your tongue for me?” Everyone in this scenario needs to be able to take a step back, and wonder why it was so easy to speak to someone within your race as opposed to outside it.