These kids were just kids to me, and as we grew up, they were just people. I would say that my first encounter with someone different from me and what my mother told me left me with a deeply ingrained idea that I didn't need to fully understand someone's situation, and that my imperfect understanding did not give me the right to ask in-depth questions. . All I had to do was treat everyone I met, no matter where they came from, what they looked like, or what language they spoke.,