Back home I live in a community that has become dubbed the next Chinatown. The racial makeup of Flushing, NY 11355 has shifted ever since I was growing up; from a somewhat diverse community to a heavily Asian community. I realize now that my upbringing was pretty sheltered since everything I knew about life came from either my parents or the classroom. Those were the days before the advent of high speed internet.
My school experiences were each very different because of the people around me. I rode the school bus to elementary school daily and my circle of friends consisted of a mixed bag of races/ethnicities even though the school itself consisted of mostly affluent White, Jewish students. Middle school was more racially diverse and the school was approximately half Hispanic/African American. Everyone in my high school was basically Asian or White. The percentage of African American/Hispanic students was less than ten. But high school was still an experience because every morning I took an early morning train with Latinos or “Mexicans” as they were more commonly known. Since my elementary school days I have always associated African American and Hispanics with negativity. When I was younger the kids who bullied me were always of those races. Even in high school whenever I saw Hispanic or African American kids on the train they were almost always being disruptive and although I usually ignored them, I have developed a certain perception over the years. The fact that there was so much media coverage about how Hispanics were illegal immigrants did not help their image. In high school I gained the belief that most Mexicans were horny and would use any opportunity they had to satisfy their urges. There were stories in the papers of Mexican guys exposing themselves to girls in the subway and the girls discretely using a camera phone to capture the proof. Naturally it was quite shocking for me to read a front page article about how Mexican men were healthy and contracted HIV from Americans and then brought it back to their hometowns with them. After all “In the United States, it is often assumed that immigrants bring diseases into the country, not take them away (1).”
Now that I think about it, most Hispanics got off the trains at Queensboro Plaza which is the last major stop in Queens before going into Manhattan. The area is also the site of housing projects, which to no surprise of mine had higher than average rates of AIDS cases. My daily commute through Queens and into Manhattan heavily changed my perception of where I live.
I was also on my school’s bowling team and our regular season games were held at Chelsea Piers. At that time, I was not familiar with Chelsea’s reputation as a gay neighborhood. When we were there I went from train to bus and vice versa. I had no idea of the community that lived in the area until one night when I was in a cab coming back from an informal Colgate gathering at 1 am and we passed by Chelsea. I was honestly dumbfounded at what I saw. There were bright colors everywhere and the costumes I saw were shocking beyond my wildest imaginations. I guess that is why my parents told me to go to bed at 10 pm.