It's not easy being a black person in America and it's really not easy attending a small-town college where not only are you still a minority but it becomes a rare occasion to see people of similar color around you.

Before we continue, I will clear up my racial background, just in case you are wondering. I have a black father and a white mother – taboo, I know. Despite the fact that I am half white, all my life I have had to identify as black for governmental purposes and because my skin tone does not reflect that of a white person's.

What prompted me speaking out about the obstacles I face at my small-town college was an incident that happened a few weeks ago. A white student, while in my place of residence, decided to greet his friend by saying "what's up ni**a". I've heard worse, much worse, from people around me. It wasn't that he said this to his white friend that bothered me too much, it was that he addressed me afterward by saying, "oh, it's OK, I have a black friend."

He then proceeded to tell me his black friend's name and asked his friend to confirm that he indeed had one. I was perplexed by this because I couldn't figure out if he assumed I would either know this black friend, because all black people know each other, or that it would make what he said OK because of this association.

Talking to a professor outside of class doesn't mean you have a Ph.D. Donating a dollar to a person stricken with homelessness doesn't make you a Nobel Peace prize winner. Knowing a person of color doesn't mean you can say rude or inconsiderate comments in a social setting that might offend someone of color.

This student then said in a last minute attempt to salvage our fading relationship (everyone needs two black friends), "it's OK man, I grew up in the ghetto." In this moment, I couldn't tell if I wanted to punch his face or laugh in it.

NOT ONLY WAS THIS PROBABLY A BOLD LIE but he assumes all black people live in the ghetto. THE GHETTO. The ghetto. I guess he assumes that all black people just spawn in the ghetto, doomed to teach upper-class white boys slang and the real way of life. At this point, I am beyond annoyed. Not hurt too much because he wasn't purposely attacking anyone, but it was the idea that he was, like most of white America, incorrectly grouping me with a set of people and being ignorant to his blatant racism.

I said nothing to this kid because if I did how would I be perceived?

An angry black man? Another minority who overreacts to racism?

My experience does not represent all minorities at all colleges, and I have had it better than a lot of people, but I am one voice who has been given the opportunity to speak out. Despite being one person of billions of people on this earth, I am grouped to being a black male. We love categories, it's how we function socially: label everything and place them in boxes because it's easier to understand.

Although white people are grouped together, we rarely ask them to speak for their category. As a black, I am constantly asked to speak on behalf of all black people and that should be no one's job. I am looked at during sociology classes when a question about minorities is brought up and I answer these questions for one reason: if I don't, someone ignorant about it will. I'm not saying white people are ignorant, but nine out of ten times, a minority will know a little more about minority life than they will because they've lived it (and I have met many ignorant minorities).

And I will never say I know everything or that I am always right, but I have been attuned to struggles that have affected me and people in similar situations. You don't ask a fisherman to speak about astrophysics (I apologize to any astrophysicists that also frequently fish), but it does not limit people's ability to speak on behalf of something they do not live -- just be educated about it.

At my school, there seem to be few minority professors, almost no black faculty. At my school, there seems to be more minority students on brochures than the actual number of minorities. At my school, it's okay to white-wash the only black Shakespeare play, Othello. At my school, people in class say things like, "when I see a black person coming down the street, I jump into the nearest corn field" (actual quote). At my school, it's not unheard of to get an email from administrators apologizing for the KKK flyers that were distributed on the campus.

The towns surrounding my school can be rough too. I get stares everywhere, it's like I'm a wrecking ball in a glass store. I get many stares at our local Taco Bell and I will admit, I am not the most average looking person. One employee at this Taco Bell once said, "Oh great, now the blacks are here." I was the only black person there and I am not some lunatic who enters restaurants to make a scene. My presence alone was enough to apparently ruin this employee's ability to make a taco! It hurt. It's stupid, but it hurt.

I am reminded every day that I am a minority. That I did something wrong because I was born with brown skin. Whenever someone jokingly makes fun of the fact that I am the only black person in my Fraternity, it adds up to become a constant reminder that either I probably don't belong here or somehow I am better than the rest of my group. Somehow I made it! I'm $40,000+ in student debt when I leave this college. I'm begging friends of the family to cosign on loans because my family does not have the credit to help. I don't equate these experiences with the color of my skin, but some people will. I didn't make it, I barely got by.

When things on campus pop up that are offensive, anyone trying to point it out becomes a target for people to ignorantly talk about racism as if to defend it. Recently an ad for a taco night on campus featured a Mexican woman, wearing traditional Mexican clothing, and a sombrero while holding a taco. A student pointed this out and said that it was offensive to use Mexican icons and symbolswhile promoting American tacos, not authentic Mexican food.

I doubt there was any intention of making this event racist, but that is how some people felt. The response on Yik-Yak from the campus was appalling. I attend school with these people! And just like using the All-Lives-Matter movement to discredit another movement without actually addressing the REAL core issues of discrimination and police violence, it's not okay to justify hurting or making someone feel bad because you don't like being politically correct.

Using a Mexican icon to promote a taco night can be offensive to some people. Deal with it.

Someone wearing a Trump hat on campus should not bother you. If they are wearing this hat while telling minorities they are not welcome in America, it should bother you. See how that works?

Wearing black face on Martin Luther King Jr. Day is racist, inconsiderate, ignorant, and it creates a hostile environment.

Some people will dismiss this article right away, most of these people being the peers that attend the small-town college and do not quite understand the world is bigger than them. If you find this offensive, please don't be a sociology major. And just to be clear, I don't hate white people. I have lived my whole life with white people. I also know that the actions of some white people do not reflect all white people. There are billions of great people in the world (hopefully) that want equality and good vibes for everyone.

And I love my school, it's my home. I love what I have been able to accomplish here with many faculty and students as well.

All I ask is that you take a couple of seconds and think about how what you might say or do can impact someone. If you can avoid offending someone, do it. You can't please everyone, including yourself, but just try not to create hostile environments (and I am guilty of this too). What you dislike or like does not reflect everyone's dislikes and likes.

And if someone is brave enough to speak out, listen to them and have a dialogue.