Today I was called a n*gger.

Granted it wasn’t to my face and it was by strangers, but it was still shocking and unexpected. The culprit? Good old social media, specifically Twitter. Of course I see the irony in complaining about social media and then writing and posting about my feelings, but cut me some slack.

Over recent years, Americans have grown very pessimistic about the economy and their future. But based on a new study, Hispanics and blacks seem to have a more optimistic perspective.

According to NBC Latino, Americans’ attitudes about their economic future are sharply divided by race. Whites are less likely than blacks or Hispanics to think they can improve their own standard of living.

The frustrating ironies of being Afro-Latina hit Yuly Marshall with stunning regularity: At work at a Miami hospital, Hispanic patients of the Cuban-born radiology technician usually assume she’s African American, asking her, “Where did you learn to speak Spanish like that?” and expressing shock—even skepticism—that she’s really Latina. Other times, fellow Latinos will disparage African Americans in front of her with phrases like, “What can you expect from negros?” and then turn around and tell her, as if paying her a compliment, “But you’re not like that. You’re one of us.”