I was super nervous to post this.
Hey, to anyone reading this.....so I've posted a Create A Sim video on my Youtube Channel that was dedicated to heritage, specifically mine. I had been wanting to make this video for some time now, actually when I found this specific CC awhile back I knew this was a video I wanted to make. However, because I've had negative experiences when it came to telling people about my heritage I was really reserved on the idea.
I'm generally a pretty open person in my videos, more lately than before actually. I've been sharing bits and pieces about myself, about my mental health, about my relationships etc. however, this is one thing I didn't know how I was even going to begin talking about. Growing up, I experienced racism because of my nationality, I'm half Iranian and for years I kept that part of my life to myself when meeting new people. It was sort of something that people found out by one of two ways...they were told by other people or they actually met my family. Even before 9/11 there was a lot of racism towards Middle Eastern people...however I didn't personally experience it or well...notice it, I guess, until then. After 9/11 I experienced racism for the very first time. I learned what it was because I had ignorant asshats my own age (I was 8 or 9...yes I'm calling kids assholes lol) call me pretty terrible names, which I learned later was a result of having ignorant parents who didn't care what their kids heard coming from their mouths. I had an adult tell me to go back to my own country....which was Canada, to which I said "I'm in my home country?" but I remember the seething pain I felt and rushing home crying to my father and telling him the horrible shit a grown man had said to me. I'll never forget my dad sitting me down, with the most earnest look on his face and straight up told me people were assholes, that they were scared and most importantly that they were human. Having to see that look on my father's face was almost as defeating as some of the things that happened to my family in the next few years after that.
It's because of these experiences that I am now proud to say that I am a product of a bi-racial relationship, that a part of my heritage is Iranian. There's a pride in me that grows all the time and I don't think there's a single thing wrong about it. I clap back at racist trash as often as I can and am not afraid to stand my ground about it either, and that's heaps and bounds away from the person I once was regarding this topic. This part of me comes from my paternal side and my father and I don't have a very strong relationship however, I am so grateful I have inherited this part of myself from him. My family on my dad's side have been so wonderful to me, despite meeting only a small part or meeting them on one or two occasions due to them being across the world. I'm closer to some of them over my own maternal side of the family who I've known my whole life and grew up alongside.
When I was recording the voice over for this video I was shaking, my heart was pounding a mile a minute and you might be able to tell if you listen to it that I don't sound super energetic. When I hit the publish button on Youtube, I started freaking the fuck out because I had NO idea what was going to come of it, I had no idea what kind of responses I was going to receive and I instinctively thought they were going to be negative because of my own fears and past experiences. The exact OPPOSITE happened though, and I actually had so many people comment with such wonderful things. I had people share their own stories about where they were from, their own experiences with racism and overall super heartwarming encouragement. It got me wondering why i was so scared in the first place....
Anyways, this post is turning into a full blown essay and I highly doubt too many people are going to be reading this with the new patch that just dropped and the Get Famous expansion that will be out in two short days. If you guys do want to take a quick peek at my Create A Sim video, I'd appreciate it more than you'd even know!
