Kids don't see race

[DinoCop]

It's taught mate, it's taught. I was some 14 y.o. when I learned I wasn't half Turkish and didn't know anything about the other races living in my country. Grown people just used to ask me where I was from(you are accepted to be from your father's city/homecountry even if you never been there, so you say it like that). When I tell them where I (actually my father) was from they used to call me terrorist. People who don't even know my name, here and there in the market or grocery used to call a 10 11 9 year old kid terrorist.
It took me years to grasp the hate.

[TonyGe]

Truth. I am a dark skin dude, and growing up, I used to get teased a lot in primary school. Though the grown folks and teachers thought I was incredible handsome, the girls my age would tease me and call me names, because of my dark complexion. Then, one day this girl came from the United States and come joined my third grade class, she was very cute, but very light skin. I think she was biracial. All the girls and boys in my class wanted to be friends with her, but she was very fond of me. She wanted to hold hands with me when we go on school trips to the zoo. She would give me her lunch. I wondered how this girl never had an issue with my complexion as the other kids.

Now I know it is a culture issue, for in Jamaica, there is a deep colorism issue, where lighter skin is worshiped and black skin is shun, so the children adopted this mentality from their parents, internalized it and then projected it. People should teach their kids to love the skin they are in, but at the same time respect others.

Well said... Kudos..

[TonyGe]

This is for you science guy...

https://www.google.com/search?q=babi...utf-8&oe=utf-8

Three-month-olds, but not newborns, prefer own-race faces - NCBI - NIH
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov › NCBI › Literature › PubMed Central (PMC)

by DJ Kelly - 2005 - Cited by 439 - Related articles

Adults are sensitive to the physical differences that define ethnic groups. However, the age at which we become sensitive to ethnic differences is currently ...

https://www.google.com/search?q=babi...utf-8&oe=utf-8

Even babies discriminate: Shock new study shows infants as young as ...

9-Month-Olds Show Racial Bias When Looking at Faces - Live Science

Even Babies Discriminate: A NurtureShock Excerpt. - Newsweek

http://www.newsweek.com/even-babies-...-excerpt-79233

Sep 4, 2009 - Even Babies Discriminate: A NurtureShock Excerpt. ... In truth, Vittrup didn't expect that children's racial attitudes would change very much just ...

www.livescience.com › Culture
May 4, 2012 - Babies don't start out this way; younger infants appear equally able to tell people apart, regardless of race. "These results suggest that biases in ...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/.../Even-...ows-infants-yo...

Sep 8, 2009 - Parents should approach race the same way as they approach ... Even babies discriminate: Infants as young as six months judge others by skin colour ..... be no surprise that young children notice these differences as well.

Whether they do notice differences or don't it doesn't matter. A more powerful force is modeling what the adults do. For better or worse. Its up to us to teach them. Not just by words but by our actions.

[TonyGe]

Which isn't a counter to the idea that it is learned rather than inherent

Who cares if it's inbred. Im somewhat doubtful but kids pick their nose, scratch their ass, spill food in the floor, wet the bed, hit other kids etc. etc. They're natural responses but not tolerated.

[Xoo]

Whether they do notice differences or don't it doesn't matter. A more powerful force is modeling what the adults do. For better or worse. Its up to us to teach them. Not just by words but by our actions.

The OP said kids and babies don't see race and the evidence is that they do.

[TonyGe]

The OP said kids and babies don't see race and the evidence is that they do.

Yeah I know..I'm not crtisizing you. Just had to get it out. Its just that Racism is such a colossal waste of time and energy and it diminishes others that have contributions to make..Its really sad that people seem to accept and normalize it.

[Lomasexual]

That's taught tho.

My kid knows Hawkies and Liverpool and everyone else is yuckie team. He knows all the other teams names

He saw a kid a few weeks ago in a Chelsea top and walked straight up to him and pointed at him and said "Chelsea yucky team"

He did the same with the Swans a few days ago.

Now he's not born hawthorn or Liverpool I did that.

He has all kinds of "races" at his child care but never mentions it.

To a degree it is taught, but it is the most obvious thing to be taught. Or perhaps I'd say learned (because the word 'taught' implies active teaching, where I believe that observation accounts for a lot of this)

The pre-programmed disposition towards dividing groups into 'us' and 'them' is directed by several things. Parental influence is one, but broader social and cultural influence will also be important - plus of course there will be personal experiences.

Race has turned out to be a very reliable target for this, simply because the differences in appearance are a very easy point of differentiation.

You might think it is not innate at an individual level. However it is innate at a societal level, and the pre-programming for it is innate at an individual level. So the end result is pretty much the same.

[Xoo]

Yeah I know..I'm not crtisizing you. Just had to get it out. Its just that Racism is such a colossal waste of time and energy and it diminishes others that have contributions to make..Its really sad that people seem to accept and normalize it.

We are probably not on the same page as to what "racism" is.

"Racist" is an interesting word, after all who are the real racists? A person that loves their race, is proud of all it’s accomplishments, wants to live with their own kind and preserve their heritage. Or is a racist someone that is trying to destroy someones heritage through diversity, multiculturalism and race mixing?

[TonyGe]

We are probably not on the same page as to what "racism" is.

"Racist" is an interesting word, after all who are the real racists? A person that loves their race, is proud of all it’s accomplishments, wants to live with their own kind and preserve their heritage. Or is a racist someone that is trying to destroy someones heritage through diversity, multiculturalism and race mixing?

Your argument is interesting because you use positive words on one side and negative on the other. I noticed you put race mixing on the negative side. So I guess you don't approve. I look at it this way be proud of who you are and how you live your life. If you have to look back to the past or what your race is to feel good about yourself then you have a problem.

[Razor Ramon]

It'll be confusing for him in a few years time when his wifes picking which stranger she wants to bone her tonight while he hides in the cupboard with a chastity cage on, she says "the black one" and he goes over and fetches a guy in black gloves