Don’t feel ashamed. The vast majority of the people don’t even know they’re racists. They don’t understand that code-switching when they speak to minorities is racist. They don’t realize that not acknowledging someone’s culture is racist. The microaggressions are everywhere. Here are 11 examples.

1. If you ask someone where they’re from, and they say “New York,” don’t ask them "No. Where are you really from?" I don’t know what particular country my ancestors were stolen from. Sorry, not sorry.
2. You don’t sound Black/Hispanic/Asian. Stop telling people they don’t sound like their ethnicity or race. Can you truly sound Black or White? Accents exist, but stop equating stupidity to people of color.
3. Telling someone they talk White is not a compliment. Education and proper usage of grammar aren’t limited to Caucasians.
4. Stop touching other people’s hair and then saying it’s much softer than I expected. What were you expecting? A brillo pad?
5. Everything that is strange is not ghetto or ratchet. Using ghetto or ratchet to describe things that are not your norm actually degrades people living in the ghetto.
6. You’re not like other insert disenfranchised group here. Yeah, and I also thought you weren’t completely idiotic.
7. You’re pretty for a Black girl. Black women have dealt with enough over the past 400 years. Stop trying to force your standard of beauty on everyone. Don’t fetishize Lupita Nyongo to turn around and degrade those who look just like her.
8. I told all my friends and family back home that I have a minority friend. This is not a zoo, and I am not here for your personal amusement. It is not exotic to have a friend from a different cultural background. Stop the madness.
9. You got into Vandy because you’re Black. No, I got in because I killed the college admissions game with my 99^th percentile test scores, killer essay, great extracurriculars, and an awesome interview. Please stop thinking your friend got rejected because they were White. Stop thinking that my ethnicity made me stand out in the admissions game.
10. Nigga. No matter which way you slice it; if you say this word you are a racist. Whether you’re rapping that new Future song or using it in a derogatory statement, you’re a racist. It’s not your word, just cut it out from your vocabulary. If Blacks started using Mayo, Cracker, or Kike to refer to you, you’d be slightly upset. “Yo, what’s good my mayo?”
11. All lives matter. Yes, that is true. The lives of all people do matter, but where in American History have all lives ever mattered. Was it Slavery? Segregation? Immigration quotas? Housing discrimination? Do you show up at a cancer 5k to cheer for muscular dystrophy? No. You don’t. Yes, all lives matter but we’re focusing on Black lives for now.

It’s hard being woke, but it’s not about being politically correct; it’s about not being an asshole. Try not to be a racist today.