Same, But Different
As is the case with hundreds of other grads, I moved back home after graduation, in part, thanks to COVID-19. Before this, I hadn't thought much of this quaint little town, as I had tried my hardest to unlearn a lot of the biases and beliefs that I experienced. I have now been here since the end of March. It's been seven months of what sometimes feels like new observations, but is mostly just the same life I grew up having, just a little different. I drive through town and I see plenty of American flags, something I was taught represented freedom, and equality, and all that good stuff you learn in history class. That has always been the case, those flags have always been there. And, as a first-generation immigrant, I believe(d) all that good stuff. I saw American flags and thought, yes, I live in the USA, and of course I'm grateful to live here, just as my parents taught me. But recently, all those American flags I once saw as a symbol of my story, are accompanied by ...