Redditor Asks If They Went Too Far By Mocking A Girl For Being Poor After She Made Racist Comments

Redditor throwaway392071 is a student of Asian descent who had been harassed repeatedly since lockdown by the same person who made comments implying that the global health crisis was somehow their fault. When the harassment continued during school – where its district was conducting classes in person – they finally reached a breaking point and snapped back at their tormentor with a quip that may have hit too close to home. They visited the "Am I the A**hole" (AITA) subReddit to see what strangers had to say about their retaliatory remark. The Original Poster (OP) asked:

"AITA for making fun of a white girl for being poor because she was being racist?"

They explained:

"I’m Asian, more specifically one of the only Chinese people in my grade, which has been absolutely fun these days."

"So the girl in question, has been racially harassing me since the beginning of lockdown, when she dmed and said 'did the bat taste good? thanks a lot you f'king freak.'" "I reported her to my school, and they literally just dropped it because they said tensions were high, and she couldn’t be blamed because her uncle had corona, some BS like that." "Then I got repeated messages like that from fake/newly created accounts, that I suspect were from her, and I just kept blocking them until I guess she gave up because I wasn’t reacting." "My school district has chosen to do in person, massively dumb imo, but whatever. On the literal second day of school, she walks up to me while I’m in the lunch line and says in a thick asian accent, 'Are you eating bat dumpring or dog noodle?'” "Other people around me f'king laughed, and I’m sure I don’t have to explain this, but I felt f'king humiliated. It finally felt like I got her off my back for a little while, and she comes back as soon as school starts, and I already know my school administration isn’t going to go to bat for me."

"I don’t know a lot about this girl, since obviously I try to avoid her, but I did know that she had sh*tty teeth, lived in a trailer, and was very poor."

"I’m ashamed to have stooped to this, but I just wanted to show her how I felt for once, so I said, 'I’d be less concerned with what I’m eating if I were you, and more worried about your diet, since you’re the one who needs to figure out how to brush her teeth in a trailer with no running water. Stop trying to get sent to a hospital when you can’t afford healthcare.'” "Other students nearby told me I went too far because 'it wasn’t her fault she was poor' LIKE IT WAS MY FAULT I WAS ASIAN?!?!" "She literally f'king cried, like I didn’t cry every time she called me a f'king chink."

"She’s left me alone ever since though, which doesn’t matter since I plan on transferring anyways."

Anonymous strangers on the internet were asked if and where guilt belongs by declaring:

• NTA - Not The A**hole
• YTA - You're The A**hole
• ESH - Everyone Sucks Here
• NAH - No A**holes Here

Many Redditors believed that the OP's retort was warranted."I'm a certified poor (I get $11k from FAFSA each year, for reference) and I didn't take this personally. Giving someone a taste of their own medicine to get them to stop isn't the same as starting it or actually believing those things." "There's often this attitude among us that we don't want to be on the bottom of the totem pole so my peers seem to latch onto the racist rhetoric they are fed. I may be poor but at least I'm not a insert slur here." "That's why she took it so hard. She was already doing it out of insecurity and that hit her where it hurts. Maybe she'll rethink next time." "It's gross how well divide and conquer works on us. We won't get ahead until we realize we're on the same team. NTA." – napoleonicecream "NTA in my opinion. I was made fun of for being gay as a kid, and developed a sharp tongue by way of defense. I would often get in trouble for making kids cry, even though I was defending just myself." "Just be careful how you hurt people and recognize that you have power and yield it with responsibility." – jesgolightly "Not to be a jerk, but this is probably the case with trailer park girl as well." "She makes fun of others bc she has gotten made fun of. Happy and secure people don’t bully others. I don’t care that OP did that though, sometimes you have to stand up for yourself." – ImpressiveExchange9 "It’s one thing to throw back a barb at someone who is going after you and another to just attack someone because you’re a racist jerk. Sounds like she went after this guy unprovoked." "You might have a sharp tongue to defend yourself, but I bet you don’t just randomly attack people. She learned that it’s possible to get as good as you give. Valuable lesson this girl needed." "I’m also horrified, but not shocked, the school gave this girl a pass. That shouldn’t have been waved off. Racism, homophobia and sexism are just not taken seriously enough." – IPetdogs4U "NTA it seems like you put up with a lot, I’m sorry. While you clearly know it’s not good to stoop to a bullies level, this girl had it coming after all the nasty sh*t she said." "People can only tolerate so much abuse before lashing out, maybe she’ll learn that. At least she’s left you alone and you’re switching schools." "Also your school is TA for not taking her behaviour more seriously." – Grand_Salamander "NTA, backing down to bullies never works, you have to hit back or they never stop." – velocibadgery "It's sad but true. Narcissists and other entitled people only respond to extremely firm boundaries and harsh consequences if they break them. She's young so she may actually have learnt something." – From_the_MatriarchyOverall, Redditors declared the OP was NTA and also slammed the school for brushing off the bullying complaint without taking disciplinary action.