Last week I watched a video on Facebook of a man throwing racist comments at a woman inside a store in Oakland. For what reason? He heard her speaking Spanish.

"You lousy-speaking immigrant," he said right after also calling her a "wetback."

Unfortunately, this is not the first video of this kind that I’ve watched, and I know it will not be the last one either. For this reason, I think it was about time to talk about this. It is time to acknowledge that this is real and is happening in 2017, a year where people are expected to be civilized and educated.

The first thing that pops into my mind whenever I watch this type of video is—‘This is ignorance at its finest.’ I am having a really hard time trying to understand the logic (if there’s any) behind these people’s motives and thoughts.

As a fluent Spanish speaker, I have tried to think of what I would do if I ever have to deal with this same situation. Would I respond back? Would I cry? Get mad? Scared? I honestly don’t know. I think the easiest thing for me would be to respond back with the same offensive tone. However, I think it is important to always be prepared for uncomfortable situations and to always have your values clear. Doing the easiest thing is not always the best you can do.

Instead of responding in the same offensive way, let’s respond with respect and integrity just like the woman in this particular video. You can tell she is upset but she never loses her dignity which I think is admirable, especially considering the hurtful comments that man was saying.

Just know that what you say about someone and how you judge people talks more about you as a person that what you’re actually saying or who are you talking about. This is why I think we shouldn’t be offended by this type of comments. Who knows? Maybe this man has been frustrated his whole life because he cannot understand another language or maybe he has been struggling with his xenophobia for many years.

I don't want people to think that I think what this man did was right because it is not. If you ever feel intimidated while listening to another person speaking in another language why not try to learn it? It is never too late. Just know that it is never okay to offend anyone, especially just because you come from a different country. I don't think this man on the video would feel good if he goes to China and a Chinese person tells him the same offensive comments he said to the woman, just because he was speaking English.

I've heard some people say that they are afraid of speaking Spanish or their native language that's not English because they want to avoid this type of situations. However, I want to encourage you to do the opposite. Don't be afraid of speaking in your native language or the language that you feel more comfortable speaking. Don't let your freedom of expression get hurt by situations like these, especially if you are not offending anyone.

Yo hablaré Español hasta el día que me muera y nadie ni nada me impedirá hacerlo.

(I will speak Spanish until the day I die and nothing nor anyone will ever stop me from doing it.)