Today, my 2 boys and dh were watching Remember the Titans. My youngest was asking questions about the racism shown in the movie. Dh tried to explain it in a way they could understand since they are just 6 and 8. My dh eventually ended up telling them how white people would sit at the front of the bus, and black people had to sit in the back. My youngest ds(who is very fair skinned) asked dh(who is hispanic) if the brown people sat in the middle of the bus. Dh didn't know what to say at first. Ds went on to say how he would have been sad if he lived back then because he wouldn't be able to sit with dh and his brother(both darker skinned) because he was white and they were brown. It really amazes me sometimes how my dks think. It was defintiely an interesting conversation.

By Juli4 on Monday, August 14, 2006 - 11:19 pm:

It is funny and so logical the conclusions kids come to. They also have such a strong sense of fairness and justice while young.

By Karen~admin on Tuesday, August 15, 2006 - 07:32 am:

Wow! LOL Sometimes you can just see the little wheels in their heads turning! What did your DH finally tell him??

By Debbie on Tuesday, August 15, 2006 - 10:31 am:

Karen, dh told him that hispanics were discriminated against too. You just don't hear as much about it. Ds asked if anything bad had happened to him, and he told him no, he was lucky to never have to deal with it. Dh then talked about how things are much better now.

You know, I never think much about dh and I being an interracial couple. But, I do remember when we first started dating, we went to a restaurant. Dh and I, along with 3 other interracial couples, were seated at the back corner of the restaurant. I don't know if it was a coinsidence or what, but we never went back there.

By Cocoabutter on Tuesday, August 15, 2006 - 10:41 am:

There probably weren't as many hispanics in the country as there are now, so racism against them wasn't as widespread as racism against black people.

It's hard to come up with answers to such deep questions on the spot.

By Cat on Tuesday, August 15, 2006 - 11:35 am:

Wow. What a deep question for such a little guy! You've got a thinker there.

When I was in high school this guy named Mike asked me out once. I told him I'd have to think about it (didn't know if I really wanted to go out with him--not really my type personalitywise). His mom and my mom were really good friends. When I told my parents he'd asked me out I thought they'd be happy since they knew the family and liked them. My dad got angry and said, "No. You can NOT go out with him." I asked why and he wouldn't answer me. I then asked him if it was because Mike was hispanic and he got all flustered and hemed and hawed and finally said, "No--he's Catholic." Yeah, right. My dad got better about racism as he got older. Probably from my brothers and I not caring about something as trivial as skin color. Dh's parents are awful!!! Dh says it's the way they were raised. Whatever. They know how I feel about it and we agree to disagree and don't discuss it anymore.

By Bellajoe on Tuesday, August 15, 2006 - 01:43 pm:

yep, that is totally something my ds would ask about. These little guys are so smart and so curious about things. It's so neat to hear and think about the questions they ask us.