Students’ Experiences with Racism in 2025
“They were watching my every move”
By: Kelly Flores, Abdiel Nunez-Lopez and A’Niyah Smith-Stanley
Racism has long been a part of human history and continues into 2025 according to the experiences of Co-op students and the communities they inhabit. ICE raids, police officers, and even store clerks have shown to be very harmful judging people just because of a person’s skin color.
This harmful judgement damages communities rather than unify them. Often store owners where young people shop are minorities themselves. Yet these store owners seem to target black people that walk into their stores and watch over them even if the person doesn’t otherwise seem suspicious.
A’Niyah, 16, reported that while shopping at her local corner store the clerks accused her of stealing candy. “They were watching my every move, making sure I wouldn’t try to steal,” she explained. “When I tried to walk out one of the workers tried to chase after me. Which made me angry.”
According to A’Niya’s experiences, every time an African American individual goes into that certain store they have an altercation with the employees and are accused of stealing. “It shouldn’t be this way,” A’Niya stated. “Because the employees are also of brown color, so why fight against us? Why are you in our community if you don’t like nor trust us?” She fears that the accusations get thrown at other children like her and she hates the thought of it.
Though black people may be a target of racism in businesses and public spaces, they aren’t the only ones. Hispanic individuals as well have been a big target of racism in this past year ever since Donald Trump was elected president. ICE raids have become more common in the United States and many Hispanic people live in fear everyday. Even if you go out for a short walk, you never truly know if you will make it back home.
Abdiel, 16, reports that while grabbing a few snacks at a store, he could hear the workers making racist, snarky comments about the black shoppers in Spanish. “As an Afro-Latino, I’ve experienced a lot of people in public spaces or businesses making racist comments about me or other black people in Spanish because they think I can’t understand them,” he stated.
Abdiel also says that it baffles him how Hispanic people could be racist to others as they should know first-hand how racism affects people of color. “It’s absolutely ridiculous how much ignorance runs through the Hispanic community. There are bigger things we need to worry about,” he explained. “Just because the person you’re making those comments about can’t understand you doesn’t mean you should say those things. What about the people like me that can understand your cruel words?”
Kelly, 16, says that she feels like ever since Donald Trump got elected many people have become more comfortable with being racist. She says she’s seeing more people stereotype Hispanics, believing that anyone with a brown skin color is an immigrant and won’t know how to speak English. “One time I got on the bus late, there weren't any seats for me to sit with them so I sat in the back. My friends weren’t being loud or being reckless. But I guess one of my friends laughed a little too loud, someone sitting further back started mocking her laugh and her voice. The person starts saying ‘those b*aners (slur referencing Mexican people eating beans as a dietary staple)!’” recalled Kelly. “All I could fully remember is that the person just kept saying ‘b*aners.’ I was shocked, I didn't know people can be racist out loud with no shame.”
People living in America should not have to be fearful of stepping out of their homes because authorities are threatening to deport them as criminals. Even if this leads to more Hispanics staying home, they still won’t be safe. ICE has no problem knocking down doors and traumatizing children.
At the young ages of 6 and 9 years old, Febe and Angelo Perez were left alone asleep in their beds in Texas when ICE detained their mother Kenia on September 23, 2025. The children were so young they weren’t even aware what ICE is. The agents didn’t tell their mother that someone from child protective services would take her children and place them in foster care. Febe and Angelo’s father had died 5 years prior so nobody else was there to care for them. Unfortunately, Febe and Angelo’s predicament has been repeated many times across the nation.
It’s disappointing that American minorities in 2025 still have to deal with problems that should’ve died out many years ago. As people of all ethnicities, we must come together to fight against racism and wrongful deportations. It’s ironic how our country is named the “United” States, but we are truly not united at all.