Modern State of Race Relations To Kids

I read an article from the Washington Post that talked about race relations and Obama's successes and failures therein, including a video interview with the parents and the black kid who touched Obama's hair. He wanted to see if it felt the same as his. During the interview, the dad said that kids see the world through colored lenses, essentially.

While I think that may have been true for their generation and probably is, I think for modern kids, race is so far out of their minds, and they are so use to it, that segregation is 100% foreign to them.

Here is how I think race relations through a kids eyes go: (full comment I left, first to the article and then to my thoughts on race and kids):

As a Hispanic Republican, I found this to be a very interesting piece on President Obama and I am glad that we had our first black President. And I will always be proud of Obama for that, and display his photos proudly along with my favorite President, George W. Bush and previous Presidents. Having said that, I couldn't disagree more with his politics and policies, and I wish it was Herman Cain or Condi Rice who would've been elevated to his position instead. Or say, Colin Powell. Cain was my choice for Republican nominee, although I ended up with Newt as my primary choice, while voting for Santorum in my home state of Arizona. Romney was my last (excluding Paul), but he has my full support and I'll be voting for him proudly.

I also must take issue with the dad's statement that kids see the world in terms of color. I think it couldn't be further from the truth, at least for modern kids. Maybe for him it is true, as I live in a world where segregation is unthinkable and 100% foreign. Growing up in a half-Mexican, half-white (mom is white, dad is Mexican, grandpa spoke Spanish) household, it wasn't until I was in my teen years that I even realized that dad was darker than us. I had never really thought about it.

As a kid, we had tons of Mexican friends and lots of white friends. This is the thought process of a kid like me, who was born in the mid-80s. You go outside, you find a friend, and all you care about is if they are going to be from Mortal Kombat, Power Rangers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or superheroes. Once the choice is made, or we'll do a mix and add videogame characters in there as well, are we going to play with powers? (i.e. you can shoot fireballs, create earthquakes, control fire or ice to freeze the other guy, etc.) or WITHOUT powers (martial arts only, like in Power Rangers). THAT is the only choice that a kid cares about.

Skin tone is thought about for about half a second, and then you start arguing about whether his punch actually counts or not or whether you really did dodge the fireball since, you can't, after all, see it. So it's all about "selling" that you dodged it and your foe accepting the reality. After the fight (we called it either "playfighting" as in "do you want to playfight?" or "characters" as in "Do you want to play characters?") you go inside, get a soda, and play videogames.

That is the thinking process of a child. Color does NOT enter the equation, and never did for my Mexican friends playing with whites, or I'm sure for blacks playing with whites either. It's not like you don't notice it, but it doesn't matter. No one cares. It has no weight. They have more important decisions on their mind like who gets to be Iron Man and whether the black kid actually gets to be the Black Ranger or whether the white kid is going to fight to get the Black Ranger position, at which point the black kid will probably be happy to be the Green, Wihte or Red Ranger instead. "It's Morphin' Time!"

:) *goes to play Resident Evil Zero*

• The fact that you go out of your way to declare that George W. is your favorite president makes me feel like you're a parody account, for some reason.
• You absolutely could disagree with Obama's policies more, because on most issues, they're identical to Romney's and Bush's.
• You're speaking for all children. You're assuming all children had the same upbringing as you did. A lot of kids are sheltered until they enter school, and for awhile, are scared of people who look different then they do. That doesn't make children racist, it's just something that happens. 

I always assumed it's due to be growing up in Southern England, but I can't imagine race ever being an issue to anyone even slightly reasonable down here. I've heard shit gets worse the further north you are though.

I stopped at George W. haha good try at whatever you are trying to do here.

@laserbolts: Just sharing a thought I found interesting. Happy I don't stop reading once I hear the word Obama like some people. Or I never would've finished that interesting article on race relations in the post Obama world.

You're making vast assumptions based on your own experiences; whether you're racist or not can depend on many, many different factors. Likely, you just lucked out.

Yes, racism isn't as prominent as it used to be, but it's not something that has gone away.

I never met my first non-white person until I was in my early teens. I live in a part of the country where there just is nothing but white people. So when I met the first person who was not white it was certainly an odd experience for me. I was raised not to care about someones race so it doesn't matter to me, but I would be lying if I said that I didn't stare longer then I probably should have because it was my first time seeing someone of a different race then myself on anything but TV and it was an experience for me at the time.

Over the last ten or so years however, this has changed as the colleges in my area opened policies that gave priority into accepting foreign people over local people because foreign people, in this case mainly Chinese people, would happily pay 2-3 times what local people would pay for the same classes so that they can then go back to china with these degrees. Now whenever you go into the city you see a good mix of white and Asian people. White people still out number them probably 10 to 1, but there's been a growing mix of diversity over the last ten or so years. Black, Hispanic and Indian people are still rare to see around here but it's starting to mix up.

The reason I say this is because even though I grew up in a world that had no diversity when it came to other peoples races, the only reason I grew up being accepting was because I was raised by a mother that taught me to respect people. It has nothing to do with growing up in an area with a mix of everything or kids not caring about skin colour. If my parents had of even just said nothing about other races other then off hand comments about how you can't trust such and such a race then I would have grown up not trusting other races because at some point in my past when I was learning how to be a human I heard that those people can't be trusted.

Racism and intolerance is something that is taught or picked up by the way other people act around you as you grow up and is not something that comes naturally. Nor is being accepting of other peoples races. Both are something that need to be taught and learned over a life time.

I don't think race is a factor with most kids. I do think race relations would have been better off without Obama.

Its about upbringing I think, (I havent read your piece, no time, will read later), I was brought up interacting with so many cultures and races that to me, we are all the same being with just a different coat of paint, and personally, i found the variety of looks and appearances as a kid made the classroom sparkle somewhat. So, I think once we move closer to a global community and once we improve the living standards of everyone (so that there will be less excuses for racism), we may move towards a world where racism is a fringe perspective.

@Flawed_System: Thanks for staying on topic. I don't think it is a factor for most kids either, they are focused on playing. It DOES become a factor as you get older though and start to enter Junior High, which is when bullying really starts and kids start to form into groups. I was mostly talking about say, under 12. As for race relations, I think Obama just as a symbol has improved things because it has shown that anyone can be President regardless of color. Obviously I wish John McCain would've won the election, but I'm happy Obama did for that reason alone.

@crusader8463 said:

I never met my first non-white person until I was in my early teens. I live in a part of the country where there just is nothing but white people. So when I met the first person who was not white it was certainly an odd experience for me. I was raised not to care about someones race so it doesn't matter to me, but I would be lying if I said that I didn't stare longer then I probably should have because it was my first time seeing someone of a different race then myself on anything but TV and it was an experience for me at the time.

Over the last ten or so years however, this has changed as the colleges in my area opened policies that gave priority into accepting foreign people over local people because foreign people, in this case mainly Chinese people, would happily pay 2-3 times what local people would pay for the same classes so that they can then go back to china with these degrees. Now whenever you go into the city you see a good mix of white and Asian people. White people still out number them probably 10 to 1, but there's been a growing mix of diversity over the last ten or so years. Black, Hispanic and Indian people are still rare to see around here but it's starting to mix up.

The reason I say this is because even though I grew up in a world that had no diversity when it came to other peoples races, the only reason I grew up being accepting was because I was raised by a mother that taught me to respect people. It has nothing to do with growing up in an area with a mix of everything or kids not caring about skin colour. If my parents had of even just said nothing about other races other then off hand comments about how you can't trust such and such a race then I would have grown up not trusting other races because at some point in my past when I was learning how to be a human I heard that those people can't be trusted.

Racism and intolerance is something that is taught or picked up by the way other people act around you as you grow up and is not something that comes naturally. Nor is being accepting of other peoples races. Both are something that need to be taught and learned over a life time.

Thank you so much for your response! That is really interesting to read. It seems that, as far as race relations in America are concerned, people forget and flat-out seem to ignore Asians. They also have very specific experiences and you always hear media talk about black and hispanic, NEVER Asian or Native American (I have quite a few native friends, but you never even hear them mentioned). I think staring at someone for a while as a kid is natural, if they are different than you. And it can be for a wide variety of reasons, not just skin color. I'm glad for you that you become more tolerant, I think that prejudice is innate, like you said, because people generally stay with what they can relate to. But I think racism is completely different. I think everyone would prefer to be with the familiar, for example, Mexicans like to eat Mexican food or talk in Spanish instead of English, and that makes sense. Doesn't make it racist, just means you have a slight prejudice towards what you are into or grow up as, and a lot of times in groups people will generally gravitate towards people of like race because they share that in common. Although I think as kids this isn't the case when they are mixed for the most part, it only comes about as they get older. Like a bias. And that's normal.

I think it's interesting that you mention off-hand comments. I do think it shapes a child to some degree, but nothing shapes it as much as playing with kids of other races, which erases most of those thoughts that are put in you by your parents or whatnot, as you know that they aren't true. What country are you from if I may ask?

@astrotriforce: New Brunswick Canada.

You lost me when you said that Bush was your favorite president. I respect the Republican Party but that statement is insane to even say in jest.

@Phatmac said:

You lost me when you said that Bush was your favorite president. I respect the Republican Party but that statement is insane to even say in jest.

Nope.

@Phatmac said:

You lost me when you said that Bush was your favorite president. I respect the Republican Party but that statement is insane to even say in jest.

Nope.

@TooWalrus: That's like me asking why anyone would ever apply favorite to Obama or Clinton. It's beyond my understanding. But others think otherwise. I want to hear more stories of race through a kids' eyes when they were young anyway.

@TooWalrus: Of course, but I'm not gonna post it here. That's like throwing a nice plump, juicy steak to a pack of ravenous wolves who haven't eaten in a month. Look what's happened already. I probably should've censored my post from Conservative viewpoints to satisfy liberal eyes and keep the post on the topic of the children.... oh well. Still hoping for more posts like @crusader8463 's. But not confident it'll happen.

There's a sweet video (I wish I could find it) of people going to a black neighborhood and asking why the residents were voting for Obama. The interviewer took Romney's stances and opinions and told the interviewees they were actually Obama's thoughts. The interviewees just kept agreeing to everything saying, "Yep, that's why I'm voting for Obama!".

@EpicSteve: I actually believe he won because he is black. A lot of people wanted to see a change in the course of the nation, but just as many wanted a black President, and I believe that's what put him over the top and allowed him to defeat Hillary Clinton. And why, obviously, he gets such a high percentage of the black vote. Which I don't have any beef with, hell I was extremely happy to see our first black President. I could only imagine how actual black people felt. I was sad McCain lost but extremely happy for minorities who finally got their wish and I believe it was a momentous day in our history and one to be proud of. Very interesting though, PM me if you find the video I'd like to see it.

Still looking for another post that's actually on topic though. >_< Maybe I should edit my first post.....

@Drebin_893: Weird, because growing up in the north of England race isn't an issue to any reasonable person here. I always heard it gets much worse as you get further south though.

The key point is, race isn't an issue to ANY "reasonable" person. That's what that word means in this context.

Odd that you would kinda bring north/south divide bigotry into a discussion about racism and misguided ideals.

Also, don't forget that the EDL originated in luton. Pretty sure thats very south.

I skipped all over the place as a kid so I had quite a few different experiences with this growing up. I spent the first 5 years of my life in North Carolina, where racism was pretty rampant in the early 80s, then moved to Atlanta where it was still there but pretty different because we lived in an inner city neighborhood where whites were a minority. My big wheel got stolen off the back porch of our apartment once, and I remember my mom getting angry and saying that it was probably "those black kids in the next apartment" or something like that. Turns out that it was. I managed to get it back, but the combination of the trauma of my precious big wheel being stolen, my mom's words, and my general Southern upbringing definitely left an impression on me. Not that I went around wearing confederate flag t-shirts to school or something, but I can definitely trace back some sentiment along the lines of: live in black neighborhood, bring big wheel inside when not in use. Or something like that. When my parents divorced not long after that, my mom and siblings and I moved to northern Indiana to a town that was undergoing one of the largest influxes of Mexican immigration per capita in the country. When we moved there it was something like 1 or 2% Hispanic and now it's somewhere around 30. You heard people bitching about it a lot, about how they were "ruining the neighborhoods" and all "living twenty to a house" and stuff like that. But I never gave a shit about that because this Mexican store opened up near my house that had the most kick ass lunch counter on Earth. I would spend all my allowance every day on their goddamn burritos. They were so good. So I thought the Mexicans were alright.

Point is, kids absorb everything they see and hear along these lines and put things together in a pretty superficial, me first kind of way. Good or bad. Your point about kids playing together has some truth to it, but overall I disagree. I think kids do see race, just for different reasons than adults. Certainly there aren't many kids that are outright, neo-nazi style racists by nature, but they certainly do put people into categories based on the way they look and what their experiences have been with them.

Let me, as a 21 year old white dude that lives in Florida tell you about some thoughts on race. I've taken tests before for my intro to healthcare class. The tests are to show if you have bias against or for certain groups of people. Things like race and gender. It was a very interesting test. I think ultimately my results said I preferred white people or something. The tests were sort of weird, you had to match good and bad word with peoples faces. I forgot the name of the test but it may be something to try and find.

It got me thinking maybe some biases just exist. The funny thing is that normally I find racism so stupid. My grandmother, who is a sweet lady, holds these sorts of biases, she grew up in different times I suppose, (living in Kentucky until the 60's probably didn't help much either.) Before she's said she hopes that I don't marry a black person, but also on the same occasion saw 2 white guys, and said they were black... I guess being under the shade mixed with poor vision changed a persons race.

It's almost poetic in a way. Really, a physical appearance is no way to judge someone. Looking only at the first thing you see, the surface, the first glace; it has no meaning. If evolution is to be believed the reason people from different parts of the world look different is for survival reasons. Claiming superiority over another race makes no sense because each races physical characteristics helped them survive where they lived. The idea of race being a problem is more absurd when you consider how some "white" people can be darker than "black" people. Also I find it absurd that Obama is the first "black' president. Like we are going by 1800's law. His mom was super white and his dad was super black, but why does that make him "black."

Anyways those are just my thoughts. Probably by the time our children grow up race will be about as important as hair color;

@EpicSteve: I'm interested in this video as well. Sounds sort of funny.

Who cares? They're kids. And kids are fucking stupid. Because they're kids.

@Everyones_A_Critic said:

Who cares? They're kids. And kids are fucking stupid. Because they're kids.

I was a kid once and I can verify this statement as being accurate.

@astrotriforce said:

I read an article from the Washington Post that talked about race relations and Obama's successes and failures therein, including a video interview with the parents and the black kid who touched Obama's hair. He wanted to see if it felt the same as his. During the interview, the dad said that kids see the world through colored lenses, essentially.

While I think that may have been true for their generation and probably is, I think for modern kids, race is so far out of their minds, and they are so use to it, that segregation is 100% foreign to them.

Here is how I think race relations through a kids eyes go: (full comment I left, first to the article and then to my thoughts on race and kids):

As a Hispanic Republican, I found this to be a very interesting piece on President Obama and I am glad that we had our first black President. And I will always be proud of Obama for that, and display his photos proudly along with my favorite President, George W. Bush and previous Presidents. Having said that, I couldn't disagree more with his politics and policies, and I wish it was Herman Cain or Condi Rice who would've been elevated to his position instead. Or say, Colin Powell. Cain was my choice for Republican nominee, although I ended up with Newt as my primary choice, while voting for Santorum in my home state of Arizona. Romney was my last (excluding Paul), but he has my full support and I'll be voting for him proudly.

I also must take issue with the dad's statement that kids see the world in terms of color. I think it couldn't be further from the truth, at least for modern kids. Maybe for him it is true, as I live in a world where segregation is unthinkable and 100% foreign. Growing up in a half-Mexican, half-white (mom is white, dad is Mexican, grandpa spoke Spanish) household, it wasn't until I was in my teen years that I even realized that dad was darker than us. I had never really thought about it.

As a kid, we had tons of Mexican friends and lots of white friends. This is the thought process of a kid like me, who was born in the mid-80s. You go outside, you find a friend, and all you care about is if they are going to be from Mortal Kombat, Power Rangers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or superheroes. Once the choice is made, or we'll do a mix and add videogame characters in there as well, are we going to play with powers? (i.e. you can shoot fireballs, create earthquakes, control fire or ice to freeze the other guy, etc.) or WITHOUT powers (martial arts only, like in Power Rangers). THAT is the only choice that a kid cares about.

Skin tone is thought about for about half a second, and then you start arguing about whether his punch actually counts or not or whether you really did dodge the fireball since, you can't, after all, see it. So it's all about "selling" that you dodged it and your foe accepting the reality. After the fight (we called it either "playfighting" as in "do you want to playfight?" or "characters" as in "Do you want to play characters?") you go inside, get a soda, and play videogames.

That is the thinking process of a child. Color does NOT enter the equation, and never did for my Mexican friends playing with whites, or I'm sure for blacks playing with whites either. It's not like you don't notice it, but it doesn't matter. No one cares. It has no weight. They have more important decisions on their mind like who gets to be Iron Man and whether the black kid actually gets to be the Black Ranger or whether the white kid is going to fight to get the Black Ranger position, at which point the black kid will probably be happy to be the Green, Wihte or Red Ranger instead. "It's Morphin' Time!"

:) *goes to play Resident Evil Zero*

As an Arab American in NYC who was 11 when 9/11 happened, I can guarantee you that race/ethnicity is still a huge issue in this country and one that needs to addressed ASAP. You might have been playing super hero with your rainbow coalition of friends growing up, I was getting jumped, harassed by cops, and verbally abused because I shared a skin color with a bunch of extremist sociopathic fucktards who wanted to hurt people. Next time someone calls me a terrorist I'll be sure to remember race and skin color no longer matter.

I just took a trip down memory lane right now looking at some old school pictures. Good times.

I think kids start as clean slates. They aren't going to have expectations of anybody or anything because they haven't experienced it before. So they learn from their parents and their experiences with other people. As they grow up they start making assumptions off of their previous experiences (or hearsay from parents). Of course things can change over time or you can have some thought changing experience later in your life, but you more or less base your views by your experiences growing up.

So basically without those experiences, you (as a kid) aren't really able to have an opinion until you learn one.

P.S. People need to stop jumping to conclusions based on the OP liking G.W. as President. Try reading what he actually had to say instead of slamming your heads into the sand at the thought of an opinion that differs from your own.

@astrotriforce said:

@TooWalrus: That's like me asking why anyone would ever apply favorite to Obama or Clinton. It's beyond my understanding. But others think otherwise. I want to hear more stories of race through a kids' eyes when they were young anyway.

America was in great shape under Clinton, a country in surplas, low unemployment rate and not involved in major wars the biggest complaint against Bill Clinton was he was unfaithful to his wife, but that doesnt affect jobs in america.

Under George W. Bush you had the biggest attack on American soil where 1000s of Americans died just doing their work day, 2 invasions of foreign countrys one which was based on lies which lead to a never ending war where thousands of US soldiers have died, responsible for deregulating Wall Street which led to the mortgage crisis which lead to the recession which we are still feeling today and many years to come, completely neglected a massive hurricane in New Orleans which his friend handled as the head of FEMA who's previous job was a head of a Arabian Horse Club. During these pretty hectic years he took 879 vacation days over his 8 year period. George W. Bush had been handed everything in his life his dad kept buying him businesses which kept faiing even brought him a baseball team compare that to Obama that pretty much came from nothing to become US President....

@astrotriforce said:

@EpicSteve: I actually believe he won because he is black. A lot of people wanted to see a change in the course of the nation, but just as many wanted a black President, and I believe that's what put him over the top and allowed him to defeat Hillary Clinton. And why, obviously, he gets such a high percentage of the black vote. Which I don't have any beef with, hell I was extremely happy to see our first black President. I could only imagine how actual black people felt. I was sad McCain lost but extremely happy for minorities who finally got their wish and I believe it was a momentous day in our history and one to be proud of. Very interesting though, PM me if you find the video I'd like to see it.

Still looking for another post that's actually on topic though. >_< Maybe I should edit my first post.....

Yeah your right he won because he was black, not because his opponenst was a geriatric man whose running mate was the most stupid politician I have seen, she thought Africa was a country FFS. Barrack owned McCain in the debates, Biden destroyed Palin. The republicans destroyed the country in their 8 years but your right people voted for him because he was black...

@astrotriforce said:

I read an article from the Washington Post that talked about race relations and Obama's successes and failures therein, including a video interview with the parents and the black kid who touched Obama's hair. He wanted to see if it felt the same as his. During the interview, the dad said that kids see the world through colored lenses, essentially.

While I think that may have been true for their generation and probably is, I think for modern kids, race is so far out of their minds, and they are so use to it, that segregation is 100% foreign to them.

Here is how I think race relations through a kids eyes go: (full comment I left, first to the article and then to my thoughts on race and kids):

As a Hispanic Republican, I found this to be a very interesting piece on President Obama and I am glad that we had our first black President. And I will always be proud of Obama for that, and display his photos proudly along with my favorite President, George W. Bush and previous Presidents. Having said that, I couldn't disagree more with his politics and policies, and I wish it was Herman Cain or Condi Rice who would've been elevated to his position instead. Or say, Colin Powell. Cain was my choice for Republican nominee, although I ended up with Newt as my primary choice, while voting for Santorum in my home state of Arizona. Romney was my last (excluding Paul), but he has my full support and I'll be voting for him proudly.

I also must take issue with the dad's statement that kids see the world in terms of color. I think it couldn't be further from the truth, at least for modern kids. Maybe for him it is true, as I live in a world where segregation is unthinkable and 100% foreign. Growing up in a half-Mexican, half-white (mom is white, dad is Mexican, grandpa spoke Spanish) household, it wasn't until I was in my teen years that I even realized that dad was darker than us. I had never really thought about it.

As a kid, we had tons of Mexican friends and lots of white friends. This is the thought process of a kid like me, who was born in the mid-80s. You go outside, you find a friend, and all you care about is if they are going to be from Mortal Kombat, Power Rangers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or superheroes. Once the choice is made, or we'll do a mix and add videogame characters in there as well, are we going to play with powers? (i.e. you can shoot fireballs, create earthquakes, control fire or ice to freeze the other guy, etc.) or WITHOUT powers (martial arts only, like in Power Rangers). THAT is the only choice that a kid cares about.

Skin tone is thought about for about half a second, and then you start arguing about whether his punch actually counts or not or whether you really did dodge the fireball since, you can't, after all, see it. So it's all about "selling" that you dodged it and your foe accepting the reality. After the fight (we called it either "playfighting" as in "do you want to playfight?" or "characters" as in "Do you want to play characters?") you go inside, get a soda, and play videogames.

That is the thinking process of a child. Color does NOT enter the equation, and never did for my Mexican friends playing with whites, or I'm sure for blacks playing with whites either. It's not like you don't notice it, but it doesn't matter. No one cares. It has no weight. They have more important decisions on their mind like who gets to be Iron Man and whether the black kid actually gets to be the Black Ranger or whether the white kid is going to fight to get the Black Ranger position, at which point the black kid will probably be happy to be the Green, Wihte or Red Ranger instead. "It's Morphin' Time!"

:) *goes to play Resident Evil Zero*

As an Arab American in NYC who was 11 when 9/11 happened, I can guarantee you that race/ethnicity is still a huge issue in this country and one that needs to addressed ASAP. You might have been playing super hero with your rainbow coalition of friends growing up, I was getting jumped, harassed by cops, and verbally abused because I shared a skin color with a bunch of extremist sociopathic fucktards who wanted to hurt people. Next time someone calls me a terrorist I'll be sure to remember race and skin color no longer matter.

@astrotriforce said:

@Flawed_System: Thanks for staying on topic. I don't think it is a factor for most kids either, they are focused on playing. It DOES become a factor as you get older though and start to enter Junior High, which is when bullying really starts and kids start to form into groups. I was mostly talking about say, under 12. As for race relations, I think Obama just as a symbol has improved things because it has shown that anyone can be President regardless of color. Obviously I wish John McCain would've won the election, but I'm happy Obama did for that reason alone.

Yes, but at what price.

My (white) kids have grown up in Hawaii. In my sons classes there are 2 or 3 other white kids, but thats it. My daughter has none in her class.

Neither of them seem to think anything of it. My daughter once asked why some people are darker than others, but seemed quite satisfied that it had to do with where on Earth they originally came from and further explained in the context of sun protection. Little kids don't think like that (racist) unless they are taught to think like that. Older kids..they're always looking for a reason to pick on one another, so not too surprising that race would be thrown in the mix with height, looks, fatness..etc..teens are bastards.

As far as who you like politically..meh. I can't pretend to understand why you would think fondly of Bush or respect Romney, but to each their own. I'm more than a little confused how you can lump someone serious (like Condi Rice) in with someone who was clearly a gag canidate (like Herman Cain) though...

Racial ideologies thought by people throughout the world are not something to be put into generalization, like you did so in your article. I do wish so, fine sir, that what you stated in your article was in fact true, that it doesn't matter whether or not your a different race or ethnicity then someone else as a child, and i wish even more that idea existed within not just children but everyone, but that is just simply not the case. Now I'm not going to debate on the subject that you discussed about your political beliefs, because, as if it really mattered, I'm a Hispanic Democrat, and as far as I'm concerned anyone who has true knowledge on any subject has a good opinion on any matter, and i am not the type to judge on your stand in that particular matter. But as far as you stand in your almost astonishingly blind perspective on children's ideas based on the color of other peoples skin is wrong. Their is a little bit of truth though, because if you are saying race or ethnicity doesn't matter BEFORE any sort of influence in these types of ideas by anyone, most likely their parents or older siblings, then yes it is true, because we learn from other people and other things around us, otherwise we wouldn't know anything at all.