I completely agree!!! Good for him for sticking up for his friends. More people should be like that!
Racist?
- Thread starter statfan
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I completely agree!!! Good for him for sticking up for his friends. More people should be like that!
Right on for your cousin!!!! Her mom can stick it where the sun doesn't shine! I am intolerable of racism and it sounds like that little girl has gotten her beliefs from somewhere (mom & dad??).
While the girl and her parents are both racists from the sounds of it, the conversation - if it happened the way you are describing - puts the boy in the wrong. If she simply said she didn't like George without mentioning anything about his race, for the 9 year old boy to pointedly say, "You're not white" would be offensive.
Granted, he was likely saying that in the context of the behavior he had seen her demonstrate in the past. But there was no reason to bring race into things at all when she had made no reference to it. She could have (though it is unlikely from what you describe) meant that she just didn't like him as a person.
The boy needs to understand that people can and will take his comments out of context to put him in the wrong when it comes to accusing someone else of being a racist. Often the most racist people are the ones who try to hide it the most and blame their attitudes on others. This is likely what happened here, but the fact remains that it was the boy - not the racist girl - who brought race into the conversation.
Granted, he was likely saying that in the context of the behavior he had seen her demonstrate in the past. But there was no reason to bring race into things at all when she had made no reference to it. She could have (though it is unlikely from what you describe) meant that she just didn't like him as a person.
The boy needs to understand that people can and will take his comments out of context to put him in the wrong when it comes to accusing someone else of being a racist. Often the most racist people are the ones who try to hide it the most and blame their attitudes on others. This is likely what happened here, but the fact remains that it was the boy - not the racist girl - who brought race into the conversation.
In response to what your cousin said, not that isn't racist. As for the girl...
Her parents can't be too racist if they are white and adopted a chinese baby. What could be going on with this little girl is that she is noticing that she is not like everyone else in her family, and her reaction to other races could be a form of self-loathing. If she hangs out with non-whites, then people will notice that she too is not white, but if she hangs out with all whites, then maybe no one will notice that she is different. I know, twisted form of logic, but I have seen plenty of cases of this IRL.
Another factor to consider is that culture is not dictated by the color of our skin, but by our environment. If she is being raised in America, in a predominantly caucasian family, then she is culturally Caucasian-American, and may only feel comfortable with people who are culturally similar to her. Would we question her decision to have predominantly white friends if she were white?
Her parents can't be too racist if they are white and adopted a chinese baby. What could be going on with this little girl is that she is noticing that she is not like everyone else in her family, and her reaction to other races could be a form of self-loathing. If she hangs out with non-whites, then people will notice that she too is not white, but if she hangs out with all whites, then maybe no one will notice that she is different. I know, twisted form of logic, but I have seen plenty of cases of this IRL.
Another factor to consider is that culture is not dictated by the color of our skin, but by our environment. If she is being raised in America, in a predominantly caucasian family, then she is culturally Caucasian-American, and may only feel comfortable with people who are culturally similar to her. Would we question her decision to have predominantly white friends if she were white?
I would still think that is some type of racist behavior unless she lived in an area that had like little no nonwhite people.
When she said that she didn't like George, what made your little cousin think it was because he was black...? It's possible that she just really didn't lik George. I doubt that there's racism involved. It was probably a misunderstanding. Your little cousin probably thought the girl was racist because she's not always seen hanging around with non-white kids. JMHO
I would not consider telling someone they are not white is racist, but there are few occasions where it would be necessary, and most of those are made into Lifetime movies of the week.
I guess I can see where some might interpret it as being a bit redolent of the suggestion that being white is somehow preferable to sharing with 86% or so per cent of the planet's population the condition of non-whiteness, but others might say that in this case, there is an implied presumption on the part of George's friend, that the stuck-up little girl is racist, because she said she did not like George.
In fairness, there may be all kinds of reasons that she doesn't like George, and they may all be completely stupid reasons that have nothing to do with reality, but also have nothing to do with George's ethnicity.
My own impression of the story as told is that the little boy was reacting more to his opinion of the little girl in general, and was sort of backhandedly calling her a twinkie, which is not, in my view, racist, since it is an aspersion against the individual's behavior, attitudes, etc, and not against their ethnicity, but it is very impolite.
I guess I can see where some might interpret it as being a bit redolent of the suggestion that being white is somehow preferable to sharing with 86% or so per cent of the planet's population the condition of non-whiteness, but others might say that in this case, there is an implied presumption on the part of George's friend, that the stuck-up little girl is racist, because she said she did not like George.
In fairness, there may be all kinds of reasons that she doesn't like George, and they may all be completely stupid reasons that have nothing to do with reality, but also have nothing to do with George's ethnicity.
My own impression of the story as told is that the little boy was reacting more to his opinion of the little girl in general, and was sort of backhandedly calling her a twinkie, which is not, in my view, racist, since it is an aspersion against the individual's behavior, attitudes, etc, and not against their ethnicity, but it is very impolite.
i find an otherwise situation... there's a girl i knew from work, she's asian but was adopted by a pair of canadian. when she's all grown up, she go to her original country and worked here. but she's very snob with other people from her own race, she's always nice with the caucasian, but not the other asian.
