Racism

• Macy O'sullivan, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2014

As my whole class sat neatly at the desks, for once, Miss Malin had the full attention of 6M. She began to speak about a new student starting in our class. She spoke, “He is from China and his name is Tan.” A jab of excitement hit me. Wow, a foreign country. How cool! At the end of the speech, the room fell silent until Mr King stepped in with a small boy standing next to him. “6M, this is Tan, and he is very excited to be starting in this class. Please do what you can to make him feel welcome.” Mr King spoke and then left the room. The boys at the back were giggling, but I wasn’t sure why.
At recess I ate with Sasha and I noticed that Tan was sitting by his self. I opened my lunchbox and saw the usual. Tiny teddies, watermelon and a chia bread sandwich. But as Tan opened his lunch box it was a totally different story. He had foods I’d never even seen before. I was fascinated. The boys walked past and held their noses and laughed at Tan. Were they laughing at him in class too? I looked at Sasha and she held her nose and giggled too. Sasha picked up her lunch box and followed the boys. I couldn’t believe what was going on around me.
I was too embarrassed to say hello so I just shuffled towards him. We ate quietly, watching people walk past and laugh at him. It was hard to stand. The bell went and as Tan and I picked up our lunchboxes a tall, freckly boy yelled “Snake Eyes!!” He laughed with a big gang of boys backed up behind him. That was it; I stood up tall and said firmly, “This right here is Racism. It stops now! Leave him alone! Sure, he might be different and eat unfamiliar foods but WOW! Isn’t that awesome to you? It’s a different culture, a different way of life and it is actually really amazing. So, Tan all these boys would like to apologize.” One by one all of the boys apologized. “Sorry Tan.” “Sorry Mate.” Tan smiled and it made me feel proud, real proud. “Thankyou” Tan said.