Be Honest, How many of you had AntiRacist teaching at home from parents/family?

[ginger ninja]

My family is not American by upbringing but unfortunately racist stereotypes of black people are commonplace in many parts of the world including Asia and Middle East. While this is different than Western racism that finds some races inherently inferior, it is still condemnable. So yea, certain judgement/scorn was present in family discussion growing up and it's still there at times although I *try* to call it out when I can.

 

[BossAttack]

Anti-racism includes more than just black people

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If you have something to say, say it.

 

[Arcia]

I absolutely remember my parents having a talk with me about racism in a very frank way when I was really little. I think we had been watching some movie we rented and someone said the n word in it and my parents actually stopped the movie and explained to me why that word was bad, how it was used by racist people to be awful to black people, and how I should never act that way or ever say that word.

And it really stuck with me as a kid because of how serious they were about it. Then again I grew up in Houston and the public schools I went to were really diverse so I feel like my environment reinforced that lesson to not be a shitty racist. But props to my parents for being decent and making sure I had stuff straight that early in my life.

 

[Teriyaki Blues]

I think my parents were trying to be less racist than their parents and failing, but they never really talked about it while I was growing up. For the actual talk they left that up to school. I grew up in Florida during a weird time of a combination of "Basic Admission" with regards to how crap we treated Indigenous People (all the time) and Asians (particularly the Japanese during WWII), and "The Fairy Tale" with regards to Black People, which since we were getting Basic Admission on other deprivileged groups, a lot of us saw through that BS instantly anyway.

 

[KoopaTheCasual]

My family is not American by upbringing but unfortunately racist stereotypes of black people are commonplace in many parts of the world including Asia and Middle East. While this is different than Western racism that finds some races inherently inferior, it is still condemnable. So yea, certain judgement/scorn was present in family discussion growing up and it's still there at times although I *try* to call it out when I can.

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Correction: Sorry, but it's the same shit 99% of the time. Anti-blackness from non-whites is just as rooted in a sense of superiority, as it is with White folk.

Edit: Sure most of it can be traced back to Euro-centric values permeating the modern world, but that does not absolve non-whites of any awfulness.

 

[mhayes86]

Nothing. Just the usual treat everyone as you would want to be treated. Like the first post, I didn't even have any kind of sexual education until my school had it (public school). Racial injustice, slavery, civil war, civil rights; pretty much everything was initially learned through school. To be honest, my parents didn't really do much in the way of education, which I partially attribute to being full time workers with six kids. My wife and I intend on doing it with our kid.

 

[softfocus]

My parents taught not to be a judgemental piece of shit. They wouldn't go into great details, probably because they didn't know the details themselves. I mean I only learned what the n word meant after I stupidly blurted it out as a young kid, because I heard it in GTA San Andrea's and thought it was cool.
They're still cool. They stand with BLM, and that seems to be a rare thing for 2 60+ year olds to be for.

 

[Marqroq]

One parent B, the other C.

 

[Saint of Killers]

To be able to come from outside the family bubble is intriguing.. Is it the environment? Are you around better people? Personality difference? Do some people just naturally lack respect for others?

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I think the only difference between my attitude and that of my parents, is that I grew up able to consume various forms of media from a young age. Children's entertainment on TV, being interested in what was going on in the world by way of the news and newspapers. I also saw my mum make an effort and be friendly with people who were very much not like her. Unfortunately that didn't stop her from sometimes crossing the line and being prejudicial toward said race, and others, in general. Though to be fair to her, she also has choice words for people of her own race lol

What probably made me lean left and sympathise with those who were not like me, was probably the fact I put myself in their shoes and said to myself "How would I like it if...," which is also what makes me sympathise with poor white working class boys who are being left behind, why I don't see white people wanting better for those children as racist, etc.

 

[NullPointerException]

a mix of A and C growing up.

One parent A (but it was conditional). Another C.

Sadly, as my parents got older, I've noticed they are now both C since the 2010s.

 

[Travo]

Not me. They taught me the golden rule, do unto others, but would then say racist things.

 

[Lastbroadcast]

My parents were probably better than the average white people, at least for the 90s in Australia. They strongly discouraged racism, certainly in its overt forms, and taught me that we all needed to treat each other with respect.

Where they probably fell short is stuff about unconscious bias, or whether it was okay to laugh at politicially incorrect jokes that ventured into racist territory. But I guess that wasn't really a discussion that was had at the time.

 

[Biteren]

I learned though movies and TV that racism is bad and dont do it, also my school was good about teaching it but sadly I was one of the few who took those teachings to heart.

 

[CloudWolf]

I'm Dutch and would consider myself white, but my mom is from Suriname, with her family tracing back to the African slaves brought to that colony.

Basically, I was raised up with the idea that slavery was awful and that the non-whites still feel the effects of the colonialist attitude. Also, in high school we are constantly taught about the atrocities inflicted on indigenous Indonesian and African societies. So I guess, yeah, I got a lot of anti-racism education.

Weirdly though, the Zwarte Piet stuff was never, ever discussed as being racist, both by my parents and schools.

 

[Futureman]

is it shameful if you did not? Like you don't choose what you were taught as a little kid (referring to the "be honest" in the topic title... why would you lie?).

I don't remember much from my parents. I was raised Catholic and there was the boilerplate "Love everyone" teachings, but I don't recall specific "racist is a horrible problem this country has faced for hundreds of years" kind of thing.

 

[ginger ninja]

Not to drag that one poster more but South Asian society (Indian + Pakistan) is one of the more openly racists when it comes to black people. Hell, they are racists towards many of their other ethnic minorities as it is. Again, their racism is different from Western racism, in the sense that it involves colorism and stereotypical ideas about black people instead of race supremacy but just even then, it is just as reprehensible.

Correction: Sorry, but it's the same shit 99% of the time. Anti-blackness from non-whites is just as rooted in a sense of superiority, as it is with White folk.

Edit: Sure most of it can be traced back to Euro-centric values permeating the modern world, but that does not absolve non-whites of any awfulness.

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No one said anything about absolving so I don't know where you are getting that from. I just wanted to point out the racism, as despicable as it is, is reflected differently in different parts of the world. Black people and other ethnic and racial minorities have existed in parts of asia and the middle east in relatively significant numbers since the beginning and still do so the dynamics are not exactly of supremacy. Nuance is important.

 

[Orb]

I honestly don't remember having any conversations at all about race at home one way or another. Partially this is because I grew up in a really small, vastly white town. Out of 800 kids in my high school less than 10 were black.

In school we were taught a little about slavery and the civil rights movement, but basically with the idea that racism was solved in the 70s and everything is all good now.

 

[MikeProtagonist]

Grew up in a super white neighbourhood with lower class parents. But they are quite progressive and left-leaning, and taught me to respect all people. My grandmother was technically an immigrant, although from Swedish-speaking parts of Finland, but non-europeans were extremely rare growing up.

I distinctly remember it being brought up in the comic book Bamse, as part of a school initiative. I think this was at the time we started getting more refugees from Yugoslavia.

In fact I think equal parts good parenting, good grandparenting, Astrid Lindgren and Bamse gave me a pretty progressive foundation.