I can never find the right bra… “Nude” doesn’t come in my color. It’s almost impossible to find makeup for my skin tone… but I am not starting race war because of it.

When You Aren't Black Or White I’m beige. That’s what I called myself in the 3rd grade when friends of mine were comparing their skin color in the back seat of my mother’s car. “I’m beige.” I said to them. They looked at me and nodded their heads in agreement. “Yeah, you are.” one friend said. And that was it. We were off to another topic without an eyelash bat.

I’m Indian. Born in India, my family and I migrated to the U.S. when I was 7. I am a mix between light and dark and I love who I am. My love for myself has nothing to do with my color though. People have said derogatory things to me because of my skin color and ethnicity. They’ve “joked” with me about being Indian… of course they were “JUST KIDDING.” I have even been called the “N” word. At the time, I didn’t know what it meant, but boy did it sting. Name calling always does.

Do you know that there isn’t a lot of makeup made for my skin tone? In fact, when I wanted to get mineral makeup for the first time, I was told it would be very hard to match my skin. Bras are not made in my skin color either. They are either too light, or too dark. You know what though… I never complain about it. It is what it is. I don’t consider it a form of racism. I definitely don’t think that “white” people or “black” people are against me because of it.

I didn’t get a job I applied for… because I was not qualified… NOT because of my color.

I didn’t get promoted once… because I didn’t work hard enough… NOT because of my color.

I couldn’t get a date with a boy I really liked… because he liked someone else… NOT because of my color.

A store clerk barely acknowledged me the other day… because he was busy… NOT because of my color.

I was overcharged on a restaurant bill… because my waitress made a mistake… NOT because of my color.

I didn’t make the varsity track team my freshman year in high school… because I wasn’t good enough… NOT because of my color.

Anything can be twisted and turned into a discrimination issue. Not everything is about discrimination though. Between the news and social media, color-related topics are dominating media. We are teaching our children it’s OK to be ignorant. We are teaching them that the color of our skin defines us. We are teaching them fighting is the norm. We are teaching them that we live in a world filled with hate. We are creating the fights, the hate, the ignorance. We are the ones fueling the fire that will eventually burn us down.