First of all, there is no rules saying Ariel needs to be played by a natural red-haired white girl from under the sea — she’s a fictional character with fierce ass notes!

Asian American actress Diana Huey has been the brunt of racist critics while playing the famous mermaid in a production of The Little Mermaid.

“It’s never easy being up on a stage in front of thousands of people everyday baring your soul, pushing through exhaustion and just hoping that they’ll like you,”she wrote in a Facebook post on Saturday. “For me personally with this show, I’ve often also felt the added pressure of feeling like I have to work even harder to get the audience to like me or be with me because I’m not what they might have expected to see as an Asian American actor.”

She also said she didn’t think she had a change at the role because “I’m Asian.” But looking back, it makes her sad.

“No one should feel like they aren’t enough because of the color of their skin or the shape of their eyes or any factor outside of WHO THEY ARE,” she continued. “I want to believe in a world where racism and bigotry no longer exists. I want to believe that we can truly have equality in this world—and the arts are a damn good place to start.”

Now listen to her belt: