At what age did you start to realize what rascism is?

Question

I mean an experience? For me, I'd say around ohh, when I was about 11 yrs old., a white kid cut me when it was my turn in line for the slide, and I told him to get behind me. He did, but then he said,"stupid black girl". I think that's when I realized the world isn't so perfect, and I got a better sense of reality perhaps.

Answer 1

I'm not sure how old I was but I remember when I was on the 2nd grade when the first  black american walked in my class everyone laugh at him and he sat  in the desk next to mine  hardly no one spoke to him what impressed me the most about him was he walked in to my  2nd grade class full of arrogant white children myself included

with his head held high (remember this was back in the early 60s) this is when the schools started  segregating his name was Nathaniel I remember he spoke to me I did not speak to him  I know that his parents talked to him the night before about what to except would you believe he had so many friends at the end of the school year myself including I have thought about him Thur the years and wonder what became of him I am so ashamed of how I treated him at the start maybe one day I will meet up with him and apologize to him how I treated him

I am now 51yrs old at the time this happen we lived in Alabama

I now live in SC we moved here when I was in the 3rd grade

remember racism starts in the heart I have nieces and nephews and great nephews that are bi racial and I love them dearly

Answer 2

I'm lucky I didn't come across racism until I was 25. I didn't know about religious bigotry and bigotry against non-religious people until then. However, I was aware all my life from the age of 4 that prejudice and intolerance is in everyone, it isn't only racism, people can dislike people for many reasons. At the age of 7 a girl jumped on me on my way home from school pulling my hair out because she didn't like the fact I had blonde hair. Whether she called me a stupid blonde girl or wanted to dis the colour of my skin or my parents religion or lack of, it's all the same, all the human society of intolerance. The world over people are like that. A friend of mine had a large port red stain on her face, she probably suffered more than anyone from others intolerance, she couldn't call that racism. Racism isn't a magic word that is different from any other form of intolerance and abuse. It's used too much these days as a convenient excuse to complain.

Answer 3

I grew up very sheltered and never heard racist comments from my family growing up...until....(da da-da).....  I announced that I liked a black guy in school!  I was around 14 and all h**l broke loose!  My parents "had black friends" but weren't crazy about their only daughter dating them.  

Now 3 biracial kids later.....(ta-da!) ....there's some color in our family tree!  

Answer 4

when I moved to the USA when I was 9. My first day of school I was walking back home and some neighborhood kids would pick on me and throw rocks at me for being different.

Answer 5

Perhaps this young man was more against stupidity than skin color?