Dealing with Racism

I'm from South Africa, a country that was built on racism, unfortunately, it is here to stay and it will always rear it's ugly head!!!
This kid is just passing down the ignorance he is exposed to in his home! Yes, he is young, there is hope, I do however think you should step in as it will eventually get out of control!

Also a South African....what a curse to live in this country.

I'm also from South Africa, and seeing how racisim has destroyed our beautiful country makes my heart break every day. But it'll take's generations to deal with racisim and unfortunately, I dont think I'll get to see it irradicated in my lifetime.:-( I agree that you need to step in or it will just get worse.

Racism is disgusting and hateful and I think what is so difficult is that some racists hide their comments and seriously will befriend the very people they trash talk behind closed doors while others will just blatantly display it like nothing's changed in the past 50 years. I'm from San Antonio Texas - which is like Mexico and Texas had a baby and named him San Antonio, (seriously even the white people joke about how other whites pronounce quesadilla). Mind you, I am white white white, blonde hair, blue eyes, the whole shebang...so is my husband (even blonder and bluer than I am actually), and so my daughter of course is the same. I was about 8 months pregnant walking through the mall with the two of them when an elderly white woman rolling along on her scooter stopped me in the dead center of the main path and starting talking about how great it was that I was having another child and how beautiful my daughter was. Of course I smiled, and then couldn't hear the rest of what she said - it was so noisy so I just kept smiling and nodding. She rolled off and I looked at my husband who was standing there with his eyes as huge as saucers and this sour look on his face. He asked me "did you hear what she said?" I shook my head so he repeated the conclusion to her "compliment" which was: "It's so great to see folks like you continuing our population. With all these mixed people having kids, we're becoming extinct!" I seriously, still dead center in the middle of the mall, flung my head around and gaped as she rolled off. I was soooo tempted to yell out "I hate to tell you but this is my brother. My husband is in that store - he's black and we're gonna have ourselves a little mixed baby right here!"

I honestly never thought someone who felt so strongly would live smack dab in the middle of Tex-Mex city, but they do, and while we can only hope one day people like THAT will become extinct, the problem is they can have kids too.

The sad thing is, for a lot of people (at least in SA), I think it's been a huge cycle - I think the hatred towards minorities has caused some of them to hate whites...which just fuels the whites' hatred even more when comments are made against them or when they feel "left out" of special "privileges" that minorities get. The cycle goes on and on and while it may not be as surfaced as it used to be, the racism has been buried deep in a lot of people.

The reality is that while we've come a long way, we still have such a long way to go.

....sorry for the book...also a passionate subject for me because I've seen both sides of it.

I have 5 kids - all boys.
My standing directive for bullies is ATTACK!
Look them in the eye, smile, then SUCKER PUNCH!

With girls, it's different.
I know if the school can't handle it, I'd take it up with the punk's father with either mutual respect or capitulation on his part.
The kid is just parroting what his idiot parents say behind closed doors.

teaching your kids to ATTACK? thats just wrong no matter what provokes your anger

That's the only language some people understand.
And guess which boys never - I mean NEVER get bullied?

No, I live in the real world, and on planet earth, jerks deserve a punch in the nose. And the times my kids were suspended for fighting, I took them fishing, to Hershey Park or some other reward for doing the right thing.

Bullies count on weakness and timidity.
When it was my boys' turn, they counted WRONG!

That's how kids should be taught to deal with bullies - not sniveling and crying while they shiver in fear for some teacher to come to the rescue. Please.....

unfortunately we will always have to deal with racism in some form. sorry she had to deal with it so early

Quite honestly, she may be the first Mexican this kid has ever seen. At 10, he has been taught this behavior. We will deal with this...she's tough, this will only make her stronger!

I feel for your daughter. Being Puerto Rican in a predominantly white area growing up with absolutely no racial diversity was very hard for me. I was probably the first person who was not black or white that any of my classmates had ever seen. I went through similar things (and worse) as your daughter. I hope things get better for you all.

a very racist/white privileged media...

I disagree with this portrayal of the media. If your point was valid we wouldn't have a bi-racial president.
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Agreed. I find the first comment to be pretty racist in and of itself.

I'm half Mexican as well - (Mom's from Ensenada, Mexico, Dad's an Irish boy).

Born and raised in Los Angeles, we didn't experience much racism as half the school was Hispanic, African American, Asian, etc.. I mean, my mother would get more of it than we would as children, so I really feel for your kid. That's bullsh*t to go through that at such a young age.

Also, you'd think people would be a better example for their children in this day and age. That's unacceptable on all accounts.

I'm African American and my husband is Nigerian. Honestly, he has never sent an email stating he was an exciled prince. Make sure your daughter knows about some Mexican role models. Tell her about some of the historic accomplishments of her father's country. My kids know about their heritage and think racist people are ill-informed.

I have 5 kids - all boys.
My standing directive for bullies is ATTACK!
Look them in the eye, smile, then SUCKER PUNCH!

With girls, it's different.
I know if the school can't handle it, I'd take it up with the punk's father with either mutual respect or capitulation on his part.
The kid is just parroting what his idiot parents say behind closed doors.

teaching your kids to ATTACK? thats just wrong no matter what provokes your anger

That's the only language some people understand.
And guess which boys never - I mean NEVER get bullied?

No, I live in the real world, and on planet earth, jerks deserve a punch in the nose. And the times my kids were suspended for fighting, I took them fishing, to Hershey Park or some other reward for doing the right thing.

Bullies count on weakness and timidity.
When it was my boys' turn, they counted WRONG!

That's how kids should be taught to deal with bullies - not sniveling and crying while they shiver in fear for some teacher to come to the rescue. Please.....

And what would you do if when the violence by hand didn't work, so then the bullies bring knives, guns?
I taught my brothers at an early age that they have the right to defend themselves, but under no circumstances are they to throw the first because that is being the bully not the bullied. Throwing a sucker punch, is just that... being the bully before the bully can be the bully.

I'm so sorry your daughter experienced that. People can be so ignorant. As a Christian, I still see people who use the Bible as an excuse for their racism. I had a discussion not too long ago with someone who said mixed race marriages are forbidden by the Bible. Makes me so angry. Yes, God told the Israelites not to intermarry, but it was because they were marrying people who didn't share their religious beliefs. It had NOTHING to do with skin color. I could never marry someone who didn't share my beliefs, no matter what their skin color. And if someone did share my beliefs, it wouldn't matter what their skin color or nationality is. I don't base my political votes on skin color either, but on whether I agree on where that person wants to take our country and whether I think they will be a good leader or not.

This incident shows that while we have come a long way, racism is still alive and being passed on to the next generation. I don't know if it will ever truly be eradicated; there will always be people who stereotype based on a tiny percentage of a population. Yes, there are Mexican drug dealers, but there are also white drug dealers, and black drug dealers, and Asian drug dealers...doesn't mean that every Mexican or white person or black person or Asian is a drug dealer.

To me, we should do away with talking about race. We are all the HUMAN RACE. We each have unique traits that make us who we are, and some of those traits help categorize us as being from certain countries or areas of the world, but we are all still HUMAN BEINGS.

Again, I'm so sorry that this happened. My advice would be for you and your husband to remain as calm as possible when addressing it with the school or the other child's family. You don't want to give them any fuel to use against you. If you stay calm and cool while letting it be known how this incident made your daughter feel, it will really help break the stereotype they've created. But if you or your husband go in and make a scene, screaming and hollering, you just reinforce their view. Don't give them that satisfaction! You may even want to write down some notes of things you want to be sure to bring up, and periodically in your notes, write the words REMAIN CALM. It will be a good reminder to keep your cool while stating your case. If the school doesn't help you resolve this issue, take it to the school board. You'll show your daughter that it's important to fight for what you believe in, and if you keep your cool, you'll teach her valuable lessons about how to handle conflict when it arises.

Good luck...and keep us posted!