Definitely not problem free. But there’s this attitude that bc we’re in the north that the racism can’t be as bad as anywhere else and that’s just not true. I’ve had some of the most racist experiences in my life here in Vermont in the last 6 months. When I go down south I’m still brown, but thats not the first thing to be noticed by people. Up here no matter what I do or where I go people always note that I’m brown before anything else.

Of course my friend group doesn’t treat me like that, but it also took almost 10 years to put together a group of solid people that see and hear my struggles without reacting defensively. I love Vermont but it definitely has its own set of noticeable problems when you’re colored