Stereotypes

My mother had undergone surgery on her leg due to some problems she was having with her veins. In the duration of her stay my family came to visit her daily. The first couple of days her roommate had a problem with our family being too loud and laughing. One day we were all joking around and having an agreeable time, and once again her roommate starts complaining about our voices. Then my family started speaking in Spanish and she became outraged! She began calling her friends saying that my family were a bunch of Mexicans speaking "Mexican." My mother's roommate let her nurse know about her predicament and how stressed she was. The coordinator of the hospital wing summoned my father and I to talk to her. I explained that as I understood that we may have been slightly loud, she was using vulgar language and threatening that if the hospital administration did not act she was going to take action in her own hands. While speaking to the coordinator I showed that I had an education- I let her know that we were very family based and just wanted to support my mother in her time of pain; not once did I complain about what race she was. I could have easily just pulled the race card as she did, but I understand the power in vocabulary and when to use it properly.