Ysabel Garcia was stung by racial microaggressions before she knew what they were.
Thirteen years ago, she immigrated from the Dominican Republic to the United States. Garcia spoke very little English and taught herself by watching television with subtitles. When the first-generation immigrant began interacting with people, one of the first things they did was make fun of her accent.
“A white man once told me, you’re very smart,” she says. “Have you thought of getting rid of your accent so you don’t sound dumb? You are intelligent, but your accent is getting in the way of people finding out that you’re intelligent, so get rid of it.”
