Similar story for me here (8 years-old, 1994), but the sad thing is maybe his coworkers weren't trying to be assholes.
It doesn't even take something particularly racist to really bring things to a distilled clarity - it's not that they hate you or hate your race, but the realization that no matter what you do, what beer you drink, what work you do, what organizations you work with, where you live, or anything else, they will never see you as an authentic American.
(or in my case, Canadian, bah details)
That's the part that stings the most, not the vicious racists spewing hate at me, but the knowledge that everyday, reasonable people will never fully accept me as an authentic Canadian, and they see no problem with it.
It doesn't even take something particularly racist to really bring things to a distilled clarity - it's not that they hate you or hate your race, but the realization that no matter what you do, what beer you drink, what work you do, what organizations you work with, where you live, or anything else, they will never see you as an authentic American.
(or in my case, Canadian, bah details)
That's the part that stings the most, not the vicious racists spewing hate at me, but the knowledge that everyday, reasonable people will never fully accept me as an authentic Canadian, and they see no problem with it.