Soupy Sundays is a weekly feature at Geeky Chiquitas, where we write discussion posts about our thoughts, feelings, and opinions about certain topics.

ON RACISM

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where the person you are talking to, or you yourself, say "I'm not racist but..." then said something totally racist after? This is the thing that we would like to talk about. Racism in all forms and kinds.

Racism doesn't necessarily mean a hatred for a certain race. Racism is when you stereotype people based on where they come from or what they look like. A lot of people think that just because they don't hate black people or look on the Chinese as frugal, that means they are not racist. This is not true. Being racist can happen when you say that a certain person is Asian because he/she is smart. It can be when you say that someone can't dance because they're white. Racism can be found in so many things, shown in so many ways, we have to be careful about what we say or do.

Some people believe themselves not to be racist because they do not think badly about any race. They also think that by saying they aren't racist, it absolves them of the racism that has come out of their mouth. We hate it when people say "Hey, I'm not racist but that guy has to be Chinese, he has such small eyes!" or when they say "I'm not racist but that dude is probably great at dancing! I mean he's black!". We've seen a lot of racist things in basically every form. As an insult. As a compliment (yeah we said compliment!). As an  observation. As a joke. It's in books, movies, shows, magazines, newspapers, basically everywhere.

It's very hard to avoid racism, whether it is in other people or in ourselves. Even we are guilty of racism, at times. Because we see it everywhere, we assume that it is normal. Since we hear it everywhere, we think of it as acceptable. We believe that it is an everyday thing for it is felt everywhere. In  commercials, we often see whitening creams, lotions, facial washes, and many more. We can't help but feel like this is a big factor in racism. If the commercials have shown ways to get a darker skin tone, would we still yearn for whiter skin? Would we still mock the African-Americans? 

Racism has a huge impact in people's lives. People are pressured to be what stereotype says they are. They strive to become what people say they should be. If they can't reach the standards, what would happen to them? As for those who are thought badly of, well, it affects them too. They think less of themselves. They wonder, is there something wrong with me? 

It doesn't matter where you come from or what you look like. People should be judged based on who they actually are. Not  by their looks. Not by their accents. Not by where they come from but by what is inside.

Have you conquered any of your fears this year? 

2013 was a pretty eventful year for me. I've done a lot of things I've never done before, like set up an online shop, join orgs, direct a short film, write a screenplay - but the one thing I've done this year that I am most proud of is creating this blog. Now that it's about to come to a close, I can't believe I've become so fearless.

I was a writer, I am a writer, and I always will be a writer. Who cares if I'm not employed in a magazine or newspaper or that I haven't had a single story published? I write and write and write, and no one can ever take that away from me. 

I'm proud of my writing.

And this is the fear I've conquered in 2013.