What do i tell my son?

Question

my kids are biracial(black and white) and some of the kids in my sons class are calling him an Oreo. some kids even call him the golden Oreo because his skin is really light.what do i tell him. he comes home sometimes really sad and upset. and what can i do about it.

Answer 1

Tell him to say well didn't you know the Oreo is America's favorite cookie?

Not that it is a joke but if he does not get offended they will stop, they are looking for a reaction. How old is he? My kids are 7 & 9 and they really like the book called "The Colors Of Us" and ironically it refers to colors as caramel, coffee etc.

My husband is Italian and I am Caucasion. Both of my girls are blonde but my odlest is brown like her father and my youngest is white like I am. We used this book a lot when it bothered my oldest she was different from her sister and I. We found a color that matched each of us and just emphasized we are all the same on the inside, our skin is merely that skin. I am overweight and have used that as well. it was a problem for my oldest when she started school, though she never said anyone teased her but that is when it became apparent to her. Like I said they are 7 & 9 now and it is not a problem at all. She knows it is the inside that truly counts.

Edit:  Sorry rah we must have been typing at the same time LOL

Answer 2

I'm sorry you guys are having such a painful experience. It's too bad there is still so much racism, even in children. The first thing I think re: this case is, "the school needs to help her address this." This is not just a family problem, but a social problem, and these kids calling your kids these things need to learn that comments like that are completely unacceptable and offensive. The teacher and/or the administration needs to have a stance on how they handle things like this. It should not be allowed at school. I hate to ask this, but where do you live? Is it a part of the country that tends to be less diverse and tolerant?

I'm sure it's hard, but I would try to help the kids see their race and their heritage as a special gift that is misunderstood by some but never to be ashamed of. There are lots of famous people you might point out, also, that can be excellent role models for your son...look at Barack Obama! Help him see that it's difficult dealing with ignorant people but      he will always have a perspective that others don't, and one day he will be able to use it to help others and excel at something those hateful kids won't ever understand.  

Answer 3

oreo's are america's favorite cookie?

haha

and they taste better than crackers

Answer 4

Let him teach them a lesson, seriously... He needs to stand up for himself now or he wont later on in life! Give that kid a talk or something. Not like 'dont say that' that will make it worse but... Tell him to say something to the kid possibly.

Answer 5

nothing.he will have to live with that.

Answer 6

Just tell him to be proud of what he is. So what if they call him an Oreo? I have a friend who is half black half white, her brother is the same, and her mom is white. She calls her family an Oreo because her and her brother look black. Anyway what I'm getting at is that this will happen most of his life, kids can be mean when they don't understand something or someone is different. I'm sure he'll hear worse (another common name is zebra, the names will get worse as he gets older and then eventually they will probably stop), sad fact is that he's going to have to get used to it. Yeah that stinks, but you can't change the whole world. Mixed children always get short changed because many people on both sides of their heritage won't accept them.

Answer 7

tell him to say an oreo is his faveorite snack and hes proud to be one so put that in you [milk glass] and suck on that!

Answer 8

tell him to stand up for himself.i get some racial slurrs for being half arab and italian.sometimes im called a terrorist and a ginney.tell him to call the white kids crackers,the jewish kid kosher boys,the indians curry boys etc.every race has something to make fun of so dont let be made fun of for being by racial.

Answer 9

tell him to be proud of what he is and to laugh about it with them.

when people call him names its because they feel bad about themselves and he should be sorry for them.

i worked for me growing up.

Best of Luck :]

Answer 10

That's actually a really hard question to answer. Even as a parent, and having experience with it i personally don't know if my advice would be helpful. What i have done is gone to the library and got books that specifically deal with bullying and teasing. There's often a lot more involved than simply telling your child to say this or that to his peers. At the moment i'm reading "Easing the Teasing" by Judy S. Freedman. They're worth looking into as they can help you to learn how to find out the main issues going on in your childs school life and developing realistic stratagies...