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Ethnically, the words are passed on the dining table over spicy stews and laughs, and make you think of stories that reflect it across generations. It smells like my grandmother's cooking - something she has only felt in her hands and mind. Ethnicity is not just a label, it is a rhythm - a rhythm that pulsates through music, fabrics, language, and names. Sometimes words feel warm and proud, sometimes like boxes, dividers, something people use to say "other people." If you use it incorrectly, can something small feel so small?
My ethnic identity is not my choice, but I wear it every day - like the curvature of my nose, my skin tone, my tongue forms my mother tongue. One day, it's a badge and it's a burden for a few days. There are places where I empower and places where I can't see. I think about the mix - how people mix cultures and how boundaries are blurred. But even so, people look for something that is "pure" or "original", as if culture is not constantly moving. The Ethnic groups feel like a dance between pride and perception. We wear clothes at weddings, drums, sail songs and babies at festivals. But it is also in the eyes of the airport, with questions like, "Where did you really come from?" Maybe it's ethnic groups that we roam, and maybe it reminds us that we are not planted on the same bed. But it is beauty - all from the same earth, all growing in different directions.