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 two 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 children are full siblings, 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 judgment.
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 ethnicity's and that is what makes America what it is. I explained that 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-ethnic 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 German/Russian/Polish. I according to ancesty.com DNA kit am 69% England, Wales, and Northwestern Europe, 16% Germanic Europe, 15% Ireland and Scotland, and 1% Native American. Just because we are the same color doesn’t mean we are of the same ethnicity. The kids are going to do kits soon too so I can show them ALL the parts that make them up. Hoping they will feel great pride. They are Aztec as well as Yaqui Indian; interesting background I think. They are also European. My daughter is blonde with ocean blue eyes.
Stopping racism and bullying in schools, starts at home. Educate your kids and yourself out of ignorance.
UPDATE: Recently I overheard my 10 year old son have a conversation in the driveway with a neighbor boy. The boy asked, "Are you a Mexican?" My son replied, "Yes, I am half Mexican." The boy answered in a very casual way, "oh, I do not really like Mexicans because of Trump."
Needless to say "Mama Bear" wasn't having it! Two years of countless racist and ignorant comments directed at my kids like this; I was enraged. As I approached my son and the boy, my son stopped me and said, "Mom! I got this, I am just going to have a conversation with him and we will work this out." Proud. Doesn't even to do justice to the pride I felt watching my son practice what I preach. I knew this child's parents and sent them a text explaining what had happened. They do support Trump; but that didn't really matter. They to were so proud of how my son handled it. They clarified to their kids that Trump is against all illegal immigrants and not all Hispanic individuals are illegal and that what he had done was in fact racist. They even asked if they could steal my parenting through education philosophy. There son wrote incredibly touching apology letters and my kid wrote him back. They are all still friends. Adults could learn something from this interaction.
