From the Bookshelf of Words Between Worlds…

[close] I came across a friend recently who, out of the goodness of her heart, was suggesting I apply to a specific job posting she saw. "The post said they're looking specifically for people of color."

At that point, I rolled my eyes. While I completely appreciate her wanting to find jobs for me, I really don't appreciate a job specifically looking for people of color. It's in an effort to diversify their headcount, but I don't want to be hired because I'm Asian. I want to be hired because I'm the most capable person to do the job.

We had a long discussion on how this made me feel and her argument was "well, how do you expect a company to get more diverse people to apply?"

The world gets tough when you're a person of color. You can't see if what is being done for you is genuine or if you're just a statistic and a checkbox to mark off. You can't see yourself doing specific jobs because they just don't feel like something meant for you as a person of color.

That's why I want to explore this book. I have a lot of thoughts on race and even though I'm Asian and less marginalized than other races, I do still face my own demons and discriminations. I think this will definitely speak directly to that feeling that sometimes white people just don't understand race.