Anger & Acceptance

For the past year I have been on the journey of self love and confidence. I feel like at this point in my life, I am truly happy with myself and my character. This journey stemmed from getting myself out there, breaking off from someone I naively thought would be my forever person, and meeting new people.

From my experiences this past year I learned how to love myself and the people around me. I now cherish every friend and every moment life throws in my way no matter how amazing or awful it is. Every moment is a lesson, and everything happens the way it's meant to happen. 

This past week I had an experience that made me even prouder of where I am at. I was told by someone that they "still loved me" no matter where I came from or my ethnicity. The person that told me this was a Catholic white male who never dated someone outside of his ethnicity. As an Arab American Muslim this made me wonder... why does my ethnicity have anything to do with the way I can be loved or accepted? 

As a pretty laid back person, even I was shocked at how angry this comment made me. Was I supposed to give this guy a gold star for accepting me for being Arab? Is he my white savior coming to save me from who I am? I was absolutely dumbfounded. Why is my ethnicity even a factor in whether or not I'm loved? Shouldn't I be loved for my character? My awesomeness? Being the funniest person I know? (JK my friends are way funnier and more awesome than me.) 

A year ago this comment would have made me appreciative at how "open-minded" this person is. Today it makes me fume with anger and repulsion.