Why the Best History Lesson is Hiding in Your Own Family Tree
I believe that if you want to understand how deeply discrimination was rooted in our society, it is often better to look at your own family history than to read about it in books. Recently, I discovered a lot about the systemic inequalities that once existed right in my mother’s childhood household. From her youth until as recently as 2019, my mother's family employed domestic helpers . During her childhood, women from the neighborhood would come over to do the household chores while my grandmother socialized. However, these women did not receive a regular salary; instead, they were compensated with food or occasional small payments. A few months ago, my mother mentioned that one of their regular helpers used to take the leftover rice, boil it again to stretch it, and take it home to feed herself and her children at night. Reflecting on this, my mother quietly confessed, "I don’t know why we hesitated to just offer her the fresh, good food we had in our house." There...