"Ha. You're a Nazi."

That's what I heard from my peers even at the high school level when I told them that I was born in Germany. I was born in Germany because my parents are refugees from the Yugoslav Wars of the '90s. My mother's side is Bosnian and Muslim; my father's side is Croatian and Catholic. I am not a "Nazi" by any means.

My parents escaped the horrors of bombed homes (my grandparents' home was destroyed, along with most of their belongings), genocide, ethnic cleansing, and war rape. Bosnian women, mainly Muslim, were driven from their homes, held hostage in "rape camps," and impregnated by Serbian soldiers as a form of "ethnic cleansing."

A family friend was imprisoned in a camp due to his Muslim background. Imagine the fear of being driven from your homeland and support system, having your future redefined by a war that tears your country apart. My parents were refugees first in Germany, then in America.

My father had to cut his college career short, leaving Croatia just before the war took over the lives of those who stayed behind. Going to a new country with a language that is foreign to you, an uncertain future, no support system or job...the instability is frightening.

So, why am I bringing back the Yugoslav Wars when it is 2017? I see the demonstrations of hate against ethnic groups, the marching Neo-Nazis, the Confederate and Nazi flags. I hear our own president call Mexican immigrants criminals and rapists; Neo-Nazis shouting in the streets "Jews will not replace us;" the fear in the voices of the people who see history repeating itself once again, from the KKK to the Nazis. When people voted to "Make America great again" and for Trump's America, were they only fighting for White Supremacy?

This is supposed to be a place of religious freedom, yet every day innocent Muslims are targeted, labeled as terrorists and even killed ("Our Three Winners" of the 2015 Chapel Hill shooting was a close-to-home example). This is supposed to be a place in which people of all colors are treated equally, but minorities are disproportionately targeted by police and even harmed or killed (#BlackLivesMatter).

This is supposed to be a place in which people are treated equally despite disabilities, yet I have personally seen how people with a "mental illness" on their health record are treated more like criminals than patients, even in top hospitals.

My parents escaped a place of crimes against targeted groups and toxic hate. America is supposed to be a place of safety, a home for people of all races, religions, abilities, sexual orientations, sexes, lifestyles, social classes, and cultures. Is this a safe place to call home, or do I once again need to try to seek refuge from the dangerous hate and racism that surrounds me?