Progression 1 Exercise 1: You, Citizen

You walk into your second period class on a normal Tuesday morning. You decide to sit near the back row today so you can focus on your work. In the back row, many of your fellow classmates are quiet and mind their own business. Your history teacher makes an announcement to the class stating that there will be a new Korean exchange student named Danbi Min. The exchange student walks into class shortly after and takes her seat in the back. She is around your age and moved from Gwangju, South Korea. She remains relatively quiet as she does not know anyone yet and is still a little shy. You do not think much of this, and continue to do your work since you have a long day ahead of you. Suddenly you hear the group of boys who are also sitting in the back start to whisper strange comments. You pause for a moment and stop typing your work. You listen closer and hear remarks such as, “I wonder what kind of Asian she is, she looks so exotic maybe I’ll ask her out later she seems easy,” followed by, “What was her name again? Damn bee? Dam li? No, I bet she’s just some sort of Kim or Wang or something.” Your eyes widen and you feel a chill running down your spine. You recall the teacher clearly saying her name and where she was from just moments before. You glance at Danbi who has her headphones in and is looking blankly towards her computer screen. She is tapping her nails on the desk and seems spaced out. Her eyes don’t shift from the screen once and you notice her hand starting to tremble. She jolts up, grabs her stuff, and leaves to sit in the front row. You want to say something to the boys because you know they made her uncomfortable, however you can’t bring yourself to do it due to your social anxiety. You walk out of class that day furiously yet in silence and begin to think. Those boys did the same thing to you when you transferred just last year. They assumed you, just for being Asian, did not understand English. Danbi did.