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Original poster

Kids racist attitudes

47 replies

hercules · 04/03/2005 18:04

I've been doing lessons this week with 16 year olds about racism and was shocked at their attitudes. A lot of them were openly racist and even after lots of discussion felt that their views were acceptable. It was deemed to be okay to be racist and not something they saw a need to change.
Lots admitted to getting their views from their parents who are very open about their racist views at home.
Made me feel really sad

OP posts:
happymerryberries · 04/03/2005 18:17

It can be horrible.

I was teaching a smashing y8 group today and the book had a picture of Martin Luther King (we were doing erosion of all things). They asked who he was and why there is a statue of him at westminster abbey, so I filled them in. They were horrified when I explained segrigation in the 60s, most of them couldn't believe that it could have happened.

So some kids are good, just sorry you had a crappy day. Hugs.

Oh and my sticker chart is still working well.

Original poster
hercules · 04/03/2005 18:18

Some of the kids were trouble makers but what shocked me was that a lot of them with these attitudes were the nice ones.

Btw, class is much better

OP posts:
Original poster
hercules · 04/03/2005 18:19

Some of the kids were trouble makers but what shocked me was that a lot of them with these attitudes were the nice ones.

Btw, class is much better

OP posts:
lou33 · 04/03/2005 18:19

how depressing

i just found that dd1 had been chatting to her mates on msn and accepted a file with such an awful racist title i cant even bring myself to write it down

the file had been deleted but the history was still up. When she got back i am afraid i got irate, and told her i dont ever want to have anything so offensive in my house again and told her that i find anything which is making fun of or putting down anything or anyone , which is not a lifestyle choice , extremely offensive and will not have it. I asked her what she would feel like if someone sent her a file called crazyspaz or something similar, would she still find it amusing? Have also told her that her "friend" is not welcome here, and i would think long and hard about what the point is of hanging out with someeone of those opinions.

Original poster
hercules · 04/03/2005 18:20

I'm spending next thursday at a school I want to work in and they wrote to me to ask me to apply as they said they really liked me when I went round

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WideWebWitch · 04/03/2005 22:24

How sad that is hercules. Hope you get the other job.

nappybaglady · 04/03/2005 22:35

It's really frightening how racism appears isn't it. I nearly posted a thread abour racism earlier in the week. DD (4y) was telling me "people with brown skin can't be princesses, only girls with pink skin can be a princess".

I was so shocked to hear this from my lovely little girl. She goes to a nursery with quite a mix of ethnic backgrounds. It came up in the context of her planning a game with the little girl over the road. We're caucasian. Neighbours are Afrocarib. They were going to play at dressing up but DD said X (neighbour) can't be a princess because she has brown skin

We talked it through and turned it into a game of "odd one out" (muummy's the odd one out because her eyes are blue, etc) but it left me feeling rather stunned

She certainly doesn't hear racism from us. Maybe time to turn the TV off...

biglips · 04/03/2005 22:42

nappy - i cant believe your DD said that!!! i be mortified if my DD ever say that or any one

nappybaglady · 04/03/2005 22:53

I was mortified, still am. But also shocked - where has it come from? It was, I hasten to add, said with perfect childish innocence. Out of the mouths of babes...

Can only assume that it is because Cinderella/snow white/Beauty/etc, etc are her big thing at the moment.

Anybody know any princess story books with black princesses that i can slip into the book shelf?

sorry to hijack hercules

KatieMac · 04/03/2005 22:55

Alladin, The Jungle Book 2

HunkerMunker · 04/03/2005 22:55

Hercules, can you do the blue eye/brown eye thing with them? Or are they too old?

nappybaglady · 04/03/2005 22:58

Got Disney Alladin. Jasmine is "disney black", ie sligtly off white.

Will look at JB

KatieMac · 04/03/2005 22:58

DD (mixed race - white & Jamaican) is struggling with this at the moment.

Aparently she isn't pretty 'cos she brown and she looks like a boy 'cos her hair is short and she has a "beard" - she has a very light 'tash as she is so dark haired/light skinned

She tried to shave her lip with DH's razor and cut it.

It's hard to reassure her especially as "I don't love her anymore" which we get at least 3 times a day

nappybaglady · 04/03/2005 23:00

how old is your dd?

nappybaglady · 04/03/2005 23:02

Did you see the Child of our time episode where all kids, whatever race, identified the white kids as the ones to be friends with and the other kids as naughty. Frightening

KatieMac · 04/03/2005 23:02

7...it starts so young

Original poster
hercules · 05/03/2005 07:57

katiemac
My ds is mixed and seems to have had no problems so far. DD is only 16 months though.

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Original poster
hercules · 05/03/2005 07:58

hunkermunker - a little too old possibly but I would have tried it if I'd known before hand what they views were.

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Pinotmum · 05/03/2005 08:21

My friend was called into her little girls nursery class. She is 4 yo. The teacher said she had been saying that no black or brown people could come to her house . My friend was mortified. Apparently the little girl had fallen out with one of her mixed race pals and decided this is how she would deal with it. No way did she get the views from home but this still made my friend feel terrible. I notice my dd (also 4) is much more aware of colour now and I have to tell her it's not necessary to say "See the black lady over there" when "see the lady" will do.

tigermoth · 05/03/2005 09:35

funny you should talk about racist attitudes in teenagers, herucules. I took my 10 year old son to see a youth drama group show yesterday evening. It was very entertaining with lots of musical numbers and jokes. But one thing stuck out. There was a lot of old fashioned racial typecasting - the irish character was thick and drank whiskey all the time, the Russians were threatening and wanted to do away with democracy, the chinese character ran a takeaway and no one could understand a word he said etc. My son didn't feel uncomfortable with it at all, but I did, and it worried me that my son couldn't see what I was getting at.

With children where do you draw the line between jokes about supposed national characteristics and racism?

Hulababy · 05/03/2005 10:00

HunkerMunker - I watched the videos of the blue eye/black eye work (by the US teacher) a couple of weeks ago at the prison. they use it as part of the bullying and discrimination programme whichall inmates do on entering our prison. It was really interesting and very alarming. And the children she originally did it with were very young.

Hulababy · 05/03/2005 10:03

Eye to Eye and link{http://www.magenta.nl/EyetoEye/contraste.html\Eye to Eye} - more info about the programme here.

marthamoo · 05/03/2005 10:03

Oh KatieMac, that's so sad

It isn't just mixed race children - I know from going into school that many girls who have dark hair go through this. Apparently only Barbie is beautiful - blonde hair, blue eyes. I have heard of so much bullying going on alone these lines - the blonde girls ganging together and excluding any girls who don't conform to the "blonde princess" ideal. It's shocking, and it does start so young

Christie · 05/03/2005 10:35

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

biglips · 06/03/2005 12:01

well someone ought to complain to Barbie company and tell them to make black barbies as they are all pink barbies..

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