First off, I´m sorry.

I´m sorry for any harm I or others like me have caused.

I´m sorry that you have to suffer hate every day.

I´m sorry I can´t fix the people and the society that taught me to hate you.

My parents are Christian and fairly conservative. My extended family is really, really, unbeleivably far right. I was raised in this environment, and though loving, it lacks perspective. Everyone in my family is white, heterosexual, and neurotypical. Hence, most of my relatives have a very closed idea of life, and they tend to antagonise people unlike them. Although I was never outright told that the ´others´(people outside their race, identity, or religion) were bad, I learned what was never said out loud. For example, my parents never said atheism was wrong, but they implied that it was through the use of epithets in connection with it. They said that ¨atheists are pagans¨, or that they would ¨go to hell for not believing in Jesus¨. The second quote my mother said when she thought I was asleep. These two quotes have been said in the past month.

It wasn´t until middle school that I began to question my parents´ ideas. In sixth grade, I learned that one of my friends was Jewish. This shocked me. Cohen (not his real name) was (and is) one of the nicest people I know.  My parents had taught me that Jewish people were just confused Christians that would spend eternity in hell. He couldn´t possibly be a bad person simply because of his religion. Could he? After I realized that my parents´ beliefs on this particular subject were wrong, I started to wonder: is everything they taught me wrong?

Well, as it turns out, not everything they told me was incorrect. Lying, stealing, murder. These things are all still morally wrong. However, a lot of what they taught me about privilige is blatantly fake. Being Hindu, Muslim, or Atheist is excellent. Being Black, Asian, or Native is great. Being LGBTQ+ is incredible. Being neurodivergent is awesome. Being outside my family´s standards is magnificent. I´m so sorry that I didn´t realize this sooner. I know there are others that will continue to hate your existence, but please, understand that many of them simply don´t know better.

I´m sorry, but I hope I can help. Tell me how.

Sincerely,

Raine