I’ll never forget the moment my nine-year-old son uttered those words. I had just picked he and his brothers up from school. My response, “No, you are an American.”
He is. He was born and raised in the United States as were his birth parents. He may have two white parents and to white full siblings but he has a dark complexion with black hair and the most gorgeous eyes and lashes to ever grace a human being. Where was this question coming from?
“My friends told me that now that Trump is President I have to leave America because I am a Mexican.” Utter heartbreak was my first reaction. Then anger, how could someone treat my baby boy like this because of the color of his skin!? It wasn’t based on ethnicity my sons are brothers but two are dark and two are not; guess which two were getting bullied? I think that proves the theory it was the color of their skin being displayed on the table of judgement.
How do we stop this cycle of racism and prejudice? Our kids. I simply told my child that he was an American and that his friends must not understand that. (Apparently neither do their parents or authority figures, but I digress.) That we are all made up of different races and that is what makes America what it is. I explained what ignorance is as a lack of awareness. I also explained that willful ignorance is dangerous and should not be tolerated. That he should be proud of his heritage and spread awareness to his friends about the dangers of “rounding” people up based on color or religion.
Show our kids a different view of the world, change the world. We are a multi-racial family, so we get to view the world a little differently than most. Our home is perceived as a melting pot, but what so many do not realize is that ALL our homes are melting pots. My husband is part German and I am part Irish, just because we are the same color doesn’t mean we are of the same race.
Stopping racism and bullying in schools, starts at home.
Written By
Manda Jones
Dark Tales of Understanding 