I really like the way you've frame this here, Isabella, because it gets at one of the things I alluded to but didn't properly unpack on Wednesday. I think you're right to note that it is strange to think of the European Middle Ages as a non-racial time--and in fact I think the capacity to do so is a privilege afforded to white academics. Part of the privelege of whiteness is being able to "opt out" of acknowledging race and racism--to not see it in the Middle Ages is just one more facet of that privilege.
For your last point, I'm sorry that happened. And what strikes me the most is that your classmate while going through their awful dissection of your identity, was so eager to prove that you weren't "inherently different" that they actually showed you that they do think of you as inherently different. And by remarking on "forgetting" you're heritage, it strikes me that all they really acknowledged is that race is constructed forms of difference--not that you weren't Puerto Rican enough.
For your last point, I'm sorry that happened. And what strikes me the most is that your classmate while going through their awful dissection of your identity, was so eager to prove that you weren't "inherently different" that they actually showed you that they do think of you as inherently different. And by remarking on "forgetting" you're heritage, it strikes me that all they really acknowledged is that race is constructed forms of difference--not that you weren't Puerto Rican enough.