All Are Welcome
By Emilie Gunti
Recently, my younger sister, who is in first grade, asked me to read with her. She chose a book called, All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold and Suzanne Kaufman. The book had illustrations of kids from different cultures and races together in a classroom and being kind to each other. It had a consistent message that all are welcome here.
When I first moved to the United States with my parents, the minute I entered my elementary school classroom, a person yelled, “Ew, she’s dark!” For a child who was excited to move to a new country and explore a new culture, that statement shattered a lot of dreams. The micro-aggressive or racist comments continued.
“Do you have cars in India?”
“Do you have phones there?”
“How do you travel?”
“Where did you learn such good English?”
I don’t remember my elementary school experience as one of inclusiveness or kindness. It was rather discriminatory and rejective. All I knew was that I was not welcome here.
Since then, it took a while for me to build up resilience and strike back through kindness. Inclusiveness in diversity means to be kind. It means we should learn from one another and not put each other down. My interactions taught me that it is so easy for anyone around us to speak words of hate rather than words of love or reconciliation. Then, as I read the book with my sister, a line that particularly stuck out to me was “We’re part of a community. Our strength is our diversity. A shelter from adversity. All are welcome here.”
My elementary school experience served as a reminder for me to be kind to people around me, irrespective of their gender, culture, and race. So, one day they also can learn and agree that all are welcome here.
