As a Texas resident of 26 years, I've learned to adapt to this environment. Although some areas of the United States are more open to cultural, racial, class, and political differences, Texas is not the most forgiving. I learned this in high school when I dated someone who wasn't "white" and spent a year of my life explaining why skin color shouldn't matter and trying to judge whether or not to make that person's share a "teaching moment" at the grocery store. I have no regrets about the decisions I have made in my life, but I have grown tired of trying to blend in.
I'm not white, by the way. I am bi-racial: half-Japanese and half-White. In fact, I've had more people mistake me as Hispanic in some areas of town and speaking Spanish to me. I was so angry in high school about being mistaken as "Mexican" that I refused to learn Spanish and instead learned French. (Japanese wasn't an option in my school district.)
Before I stray too long on the skin color issue and the experiences I faced in my young adult life, I'll reel it back into the political "coming out" moment I had this week. My parents, like nearly everyone in this metroplex, are Republicans. I grew up with a great respect for businessmen, especially given my dad's passion to return to school for his BBA and MBA. In college, I took a number of government and politics courses and was fascinated by the engaging conversations and multiple perspectives. I joined the debate team, followed the news, and researched every issue about which I didn't understand enough to speak intelligently. Before I knew it, I was arguing more with my family and friends and getting frustrated that I was labeled as a "College Democrat". The idea that being a college student made me a Democrat was frustrating. One could argue that developing analytical skills one learns in college made me open to new ideas to which I hadn't been exposed prior to college, but a College Democrat? If that was the case, why weren't all my other college friend Democrats?
In fact, out of the four of us girls in our apartment, I was the only bi-racial, not-Christian, Democrat. (I will tackle the religion issue another day.) In fact, I found very few friends who shared my political views. I spent my adult life trying to figure out why no one seemed to believe religious equality meant non-Christian views should be respected. I thought it was ridiculous that so many friends had other friends who were gay but were uncomfortable with the idea of gay marriage. And I couldn't figure out why so many friends thought the government was some "Big Brother" entity that steals your money so that poor people could enjoy being poor. Weren't we government majors?
After college, I kept my political views to myself. Although I had a husband who shared my political views, he never backed me up in public and didn't feel it was worth having the conversation with hard-core Republicans. And then I became a mom. As a mom, I realized that I wanted my son to be proud of who he was, however he identified himself: Korean, adopted, short, etc. I vowed to always be his biggest supporter as long as he didn't harm anyone and didn't have bad intentions. And then I realized how hypocritical I would be if I wasn't proud of who I was.
I eventually divorced my unsupportive (of many things other than politics) husband and set out to learn who I was. I re-evaluated my career, my political views, my religious views, and everything else I could think of. I analyzed why I believed what I did and tried to consciously make good decisions to be proud of who I am.
Then I met my husband. I was so impressed at his confidence and the beliefs we shared. Over the nearly 2 years we have been together, I have taken more stands and become more confident in my own views that I finally decided to stop feeling scared to voice my opinion and start making plans to become a voice in my community. As a mother of a child who has faced bullying in school because he likes pink and princesses, I want to help shape the community my son will live in. It's my duty to be proactive and explain that wearing pink doesn't mean my son has already indicated his sexual preference at the age of 4 years old, and even if it turns out later that he is gay, bullying and discrimination is not something I will tolerate.
So, at the age of 30 (nearly 31), I have decided to come out as who I really am. I am a Democrat. I believe everyone should be treated equality and with respect. I believe government is an institution we created because humans do not always act in their best interest individually. I believe that a government should protect its people regardless of the money in their bank account and provide equal opportunity regardless of skin color, the country in which you were born, or the accent your family has. I believe a government should not interfere with the decisions a woman makes about her body, and I believe no American should feel discriminated based on religious beliefs. Whether you are Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, or Atheist, we are all humans who have values. No one should have the right to say their values should shape the government and its laws.
Now to find other people who share at least some of these beliefs and make a plan for educating and shaping our community. I started reaching out to Democratic organizations on Facebook and Twitter in hopes of finding a local group I can join. Although I didn't receive many responses, my husband did find the Democrats of Collin County who advertised a baseball game outing for which we immediately bought tickets.
Although we only met significantly fewer people than I had hoped to meet, it's a start, and I'm excited for the not-so-easy road ahead.
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