To have not known how to deal with my son on bus

[AllBoxedUp]

I live in a not very diverse village outside a not very diverse city. We got the bus to the city today and there was a black lady say across the aisle from us. My DS who is nearly 4 loudly announced to me that there was a "black man" sat next to him. I told him it was a lady and it wasn't very polite to talk about people. He then carried on about how her skin was black all over so I mumbled something about us all being different.

I felt really mortified about the whole thing. He does get men and women confused a lot but I didn't know how to handle the comments about the lady's skin colour. He wasn't saying anything negative about it but I can't imagine it's much fun to have a small child point at you on a bus.

When we got off the bus we had a general talk about not pointing or commenting on other people as it's not polite focusing on the fact that he called her a man. We had a small talk about how we're all the same no matter what our skin colour too.

So, was I very unreasonable in how I dealt with it and any suggestion about how to deal with it better?

I was asked why I had brown skin by a small child this summer. I just explained. The conversation moved on to the different colour eyes her siblings had and different coloured hair of her mum and mum's best friend. I just took it as innocent ignorance and normal curiosity. Your response sounds entirely appropriate.

Ninjas! That made me laugh a lot.

I am the first white person two people on this Earth ever met. One if them spent some time trying to rub it off. The trip I was on was a great experience, not least because it introduced me to being a minority / the different one. Thankfully, the experience was almost all positive.

I think you explained it fine btw.

When I was about two I went through a phase of not liking beards (my grandpa had on and I think I didn't like the feel of it). We has recently arrived in the UK from South Africa and were sitting on a train in London one day. A black man with a particularly luxuriant beard got on and sat down opposite us. Apparently I stood up on my seat, pointed at the man, and in my South African accent loudly proclaimed "I don't like that man!"

My mum says she has never wished more fervently for the ground to open up and swallow her.

(My mum explained to him about the beard thing, and apparently he was very nice about it. I think most people understand how small children are)

My (half Chinese) child decided about 3 that she did not like Chinese people! Very hard to see why when she loves her dad and all Chinese folk dote on her...maybe the attention was too much.

I said we all look a bit different, and with some people it is just different skin colour.
People seem to prefer you giving a simple explanation in front of them, than hushing the child (not matter how embarrassing it is with the very loud voice!)

Oh yes, I forgot the one where a lovely explained to my five-year-old how she should keep her eyes out for leprechauns, describing them for her, and if she saw one she had to grab hold of him and demand his gold. Only two days later we were walking through the park and one of the actors from Snow White and the seven dwarfs was walking in front of us. Fortunately my dd asked me before trying to hold him down and demand his gold.

I took my nanny charge to London for a wedding...we lived in a small seaside village....on the train a huge (very handsome) black man was checking tickets....she was 5 and in total mouth open awe of him and when he got closer, she loudly whispered...'isn't his skin black?'....she still remembers it...he was lovely and had an amazing voice too...he let her stroke his skin and pulled up his trouser leg to show her he was black all over....It didn't bother me because she wasn't rude, and he was not embarrassed.....