UK Boy, 7, branded a racist for asking schoolmate: 'Are you brown because you come from Africa?

Originally posted by reficul
ONE RACE --- HUMAN!!!
what have we become?!!!

I don't think WE as a whole have become anything, it's those who wish to control us who need unseating. They insist on finding reasons to keep hatred alive.
Just when you think racism is finished with, out pops another war with the protagonist plastered over every news paper, every media outlet, and all kids know is that this is the 'bad man'.
Don't blame the puppets, blame the puppeteers.

I saw a black guy the other day. He was working in a supermarket. He might have accused me of staring at him. I was, kind of. I wanted a better look. I'm short-sighted and he was very dark-skinned so I couldn't make out any features, at all. Was he handsome, was he ugly? Young, old? I was curious, nothing else. I'm curious about lots of things.

There are very few black people where I live. I can go weeks, months, without seeing one. So he was unusual in that he stood out, like a little lady I saw in the same place who was about 4'8. Different. I'm thinking now - There could have been a scene. I could have been accused of things. I could have been cuffed and banged up just for wanting to see his face, because it was black.

This story honestly makes me want to cry. What are we doing to ourselves and our children? We are far too polarized and wonder why bi-polar disorder is ever increasing. How can we expect to rid of ourselves of racism,sexism other isms if we go this far? No child should be subjected to this. He asked a question innocently, he should have been answered not labeled. All this accomplishes is creating more tension.

I'm all for equal treatment and to a degree PC but jesus.....I don't even know what else to say. How can we move forward from both racism and PC?

reply to post by Lulzaroonie


i don't blame anyone in peticular i live with racism on a daily basis.whether it be because i'm with a woman from a different race,and me getting looked down upon by her people,or dealing with dumb white people from my own race!
i just have a hard time understanding why we can't all get along.
one love
peace

reply to post by reficul


There is no excuse or place for racism at all in today's world.
And I agree it needs to be rooted out.

But this is just pathetic and reeks of PC do-gooding and namby pamby interference with uncomfortable similarities to authoritarian indoctrination.

Good ol' Political Correctness!! This young lad is, as all kids are, naturally inquisitive. They ask questions in order to make sense of the things/people around them. This kind of punishment will be sure to make this little guy hate the establishment and hate school. What a start for this lads life!!!!!!!!
Hell, in todays world, Mr. Rogers would be considered a terrorist!!!!!!!

Sorry, an I the only one amused that the mother's name is Ms. White?

LOL Kids say the darndest things

When I was 8 i asked my dad what poontang pie was because I heard The Rock say it before a wrestling match You should have seen his face LOL

The boy was just curious he didn't mean anything by it. It is natural to question such things!

Since this is in the UK they will probably hold some meeting about racism inside the new mosque the school just installed. Because asking questions like this pretty much the same as joining the BNP.

reply to post by ollncasino


The 7 year old boy was curious and asked a question...a question that was obviously an innocent one. The school board over-reacted. I am glad the Mother did not sign the document and is fighting for the rights of her son.

Over the past several months there have been several stories reported on ATS about school authorities and law enforcement people over-reacting to the inquisitiveness of young children and also sometimes the child may make a sarcastic statement...but that does not make the child a criminal...and yet children are being punished in society for just...being children!

To me it is really frightening what people in power are doing to children. My caring heart goes out to each and every one of them. If I could stop these injustices and make the pain go away....I would. All I can do is pray and hope that things will get better.

reply to post by ollncasino


Children as young as four reprimanded for racist behaviour

The equivalent of around 100 primary school pupils a day were reported to local authorities after using offensive language in lessons and the playground, it is claimed.

In some cases, pupils were reprimanded for relatively trivial squabbles and employing insults such as “gaylord” and “broccoli head”.

Researchers said many children – some as young as four – are being reported despite being “unlikely to understand the meaning of these words”.

Schools are obliged to report all “hate speech” incidents to local authorities as part of the 2000 Race Relations Act. Many councils are also demanding that schools log data relating to homophobic incidents.

Of the 30,147 incidents in total, around 20,000 related to primary schools.

The Telegraph

It's political correctness gone mad!

Silly, everyone knows blacks come from London and the Pakistanis Bradford and Birmingham, don't they teach anything in school these days?

Joking aside, perhaps the school taught the child that blacks come from Africa, if not they should be since is true. Many in the UK came from the Carribean (Jamaica in particular) but they were taken there to work on the plantations, from Africa. Boy seems quite bright for his age. Shame the school board are thick as pig #.

always wondered what "gaylord" meant...I mean, is it actually a insult? sure, you label someone they may not be (gay), but then you give em such a fancy title of power.



I wouldn't have signed that paper. my skepticism would have kicked in and I would have simply said "1) prove he said it, and 2) prove it was a question meant to hurt"

I would then counter accuse the whole lot of them for being racist against Africans for thinking asking about what the attributes of people in Africa are like is somehow negative. I might even go to the local news suggesting that school is painting the people of Africa in a negative light and punishing anyone whom is asking about them.


If its PC, then use it against them if only to demonstrate the lunacy

reply to post by AnIntellectualRedneck


Well, considering, developmentally, an adult shouldn't be so retarded as to think a seven year old child could comprehend racism, I'd say yes.

Children don't think badly of race unless they've been poisoned by authority figures, such as their parents, into developing an irrational, prejudiced hatred towards it. This child could now be stigmatized, from the age of seven, as a racist. What a shame, but not so much a surprise.

Reply to post by Raxoxane

I completely agree. Kids are gonna point out if your different to themselves as they are inquisitive and curious; thats not a bad thing. picking up traits from relatives and tv is where it starts to go wrong, but stigmatising this kid as a racist is disgusting.


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

Originally posted by AnonymousFem
reply to post by blueorder

 

If you mean step out into the real world, then I would suggest I already have.

If you have not witnessed children at the age of 6 or 7 coming out with homophobic remarks or racist remarks then maybe it is you that should come out of the world which is black and white as you put it.

I have witnessed for myself Adults, not just children but adults, receiving homophobic abuse from children at that age. And when the parents are confronted with regards to their child's actions. The parents are just as bad.

So it does happen in the home. And they are a percentage of parents who are to blame for this, and not the child.

edit on 12-3-2012 by AnonymousFem because: (no reason given)

clearly you completely ignored my post, well done

Originally posted by illuminatislave
reply to post by blueorder

 

A child innocently saying "she does not like brown people" because their appearance may confuse or scare her is quite different from a child who would say "I hate *insert racist nonsense*". Lets not be ridiculous now.

edit on 12-3-2012 by illuminatislave because: (no reason given)

sorry what, who is being ridiculous- racism does not automatically mean hate, my comment was entirely appropriate, and , in the context of this thread the boy in question said something a lot milder


What are you waffling about "ridiculous"

reply to post by ollncasino


Glad our school in the uk has now become paperless or this could catch on lmao. Seriously it is a sad state of affairs. In the UK, a child is not legally responsible for his or her actions until they attain the age of 10. This casethough has no issues in relation to racism i.m.o, he was asking a perfectly normal question of someone of that age.

Sick system we all live by now.

This reminds me of when I was a kid and we were asked to draw pictures of our teacher. The teacher had short grey hair which stood up from her head. It may have been 'African' come to think of it but we didn't question or think about it - that's just how she was. There wasn't a thought in my head other than trying to impress by getting the drawing to look like her. All the others had done stylised drawings which bore no likeness. So I was totally hurt and bewildered when I was told off and sent to the head!
As for the kid of 7 well it could have been said as a racist taunt - yes even at that age. Kids pick up all sorts off each other. But even if it was, it sounds like the handling was totally OTT for a 7 year old. Welcome to George Orwell's Britain.

This is just beyond stupid to me. Kids are curious and often ask completely innocent questions.

I have an example from just the other day. I have a freckle on my forehead. The other day I was wrestling with my 4 year old nephew. He noticed the freckle and said "Scott,why do you have a nipple on your forehead?"

After I finished laughing ( Come on, it was funny) I explained what it really was and he just said "Oh, okay" then went right back to wrestling with me.

Kids ask questions to learn. Nothing wrong with that.

My best friend is a black man. We met when we were both 3-4 years old. His name is Omari. After a couple years his parents sat both of us down and explained that as we get older we may run into people who don't like that we are friends.That they may have a problem because of the color of his skin. They told us about racism and even gave a few examples( Age appropriate)about ways they had been discriminated against in the past.

I didn't believe it.I thought they were trying to trick me. I didn't understand how anyone can hate some one because of their skin color.

I remember saying "But he's nice. How come some one would hate him because of his skin? That seems dumb."

They agreed. Later on I found out my friend was named after a city in Africa. I asked him something similar to what the kid in this article asked. I said his parents " Is his name Omari because he was born in Omari?"

Their answer was "No, we just want him to remember his roots."

That was the end of it. I was a normal little boy, curious about my best friend and wanting to know him better. There was never any racist intent in any of my questions. They knew this because common sense was not dead yet....

They knew I was just his friend and curious to learn. So they happily taught and answered any questions I had.

I guess the point I am trying to make is, I was a little boy. Harmless and curious. Just like the kid in this article. Kids ask questions innocently and don't mean any harm because they usually don't know that the question they are asking could even be interpreted as offensive. They just want to learn.

We talk about dumbing down society. Reacting to simple questions in the way this school did, is a great way to dumb kids down. Why? Because they learn that asking questions is bad.They think that if they ask a question they will be labeled as bad, racist, homophobic...Things that most 7 year olds don't even know about...

This is ludicrous and I see no good coming from this schools idiotic policy. If they are trying to discourage racism, maybe try teaching their kids rather than silencing them and making them afraid to ask innocent questions.