All it took was one word. One word, and everything I knew about myself was shattered, my confidence gone. Just like that, I was everything he had told me I was- stupid, ugly, dirty, poor, racist. The cruelty of his swift attack left me breathless- he came, he conquered, and I broke like my mother’s crystal vase. It was just one word.

Redneck.

All he knew was my name and the color of my skin.