AIBU to feel upset after hearing anti-redhead comments at library children’s event?

[future1]

I took my child to a baby and toddler event at the library this morning. There was a mum with her baby whose hair was starting to come through. She was telling her friends loudly how happy she was that her child wasn’t ginger because her husband had some redheads in his family and they were so worried about it.

All said in earshot of my red haired daughter. Luckily she was oblivious but she won’t always be.

This was in a very diverse part of SE London and the mum sounded educated and like she should know better.

I’m not from the UK and was aware of the bullying redheads faced here in the past but maybe naively thought those days were over. Is this what my daughter is going to have to live through here?

And if that woman is reading this, or her friends who laughed along - shame on you.

There is a past GCSE Language Paper where there's a girl with red hair and green eyes and one who has brown hair who is jealous.

Having marked a ridiculous number of students answers about the jealousy... Having red hair and green eyes is like something magical or out of a fairy tale. It makes her sound immensely beautiful so you can understand why Rosabel (girl with brown hair) is jealous. It makes her sound rare and exotic.

I once was teaching PHSE and segregated a class by hair colour to teach prejudice... Then proceeded to not give any red haired kids homework. The way the class acted during the segregation was reminiscent of Lord of the Flies!

Kids are taught to ridicule those with red hair. I think it goes back to "acceptable racism" of being offensive towards Irish and Scottish people. In reality, it ends up something that's envied because it is something immensely beautiful and like something from a fairy tale. (I was brought up with Magic Steps shoes and the princess in that was red haired and green eyed too!)

Of course having green eyed DC with dark red hair might make me biased... 😂