Today I posted a photo of me and my family on Facebook. We got many likes and sweet comments to which I was delighted. However, an old acquaintance that requested me from Montana took it upon himself to comment. His brilliant statement? "****ING Beaners". My heart is broken to see this. Wow. Then, another joined in: "Mexicans steal a lot homegirl". What? How dare you. I of course blocked them. Have you come across this type of hatred? I have seen it before but I am still shocked and saddened at the audacity.

[KathyM]

Yes. I'm married to a man of Mexican heritage, and I have over 20 years worth of stories to tell. It has been a common occurrence for us. It saddens me too. I have to continually be "on guard" because the attacks come out of nowhere. It's particularly sad when it comes from an otherwise "good" person - or a boss, a doctor, a preacher, a landlord, or a policeman, etc.

I'm sorry this happened to you ((Lightbulb7Seven))

I felt pretty defensive at the time, but now I chalk it up to ignorant minds filled with hate. They would be so lucky to have a family like mine and I'm proud of them =) Thank you for your kindness Kathy

[eskielover]

I grew up in the most mixed up neighborhood in California that any child could have.....& we were all equal no matter where our ancestors came from.......

If one of the kids broke something or stole something it was their own personality that was the problem...not where they came from.

I am sorry that you experienced this....glad you blocked them...you don't need to deal with people like that

So sorry that happened to you GG Hope your kids didn't see it.
I guess I was really lucky not to have grown up around much racism in family or friends. Any family members who had any racist views would have had to adjust their views after having family members marry one of "those people." When your niece/nephew/grandchild/cousin etc is brown or black it's real hard to be racist
But yeah... it's still around here and there.

I appreciate it yall. I kind of wish I could move this thread to another forum but I posted it only about an hour afterwards so I wasn't using much wisdom. I was raised that races are only different expressions of the same person- humanity. I can only speculate as to what they had hoped to accomplish but I'd rather just watch Spongebob with my kiddos eating ice cream cones

[KathyM]

I'm glad you had the chance to kick it around with us. Go ahead and kick it out of your head - this might help.

Enjoy your ice cream.

We loved it!!! Thanks Kathy

[Pikku Myy]

Your little family is beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!

If anyone wants to be racist, point them to my husband's family. He has two Anglo sisters who have children with African-American men - one's married, the other isn't, my brother-in-law is married to girl of Mexican descent (lived in Corpus Christi until recently) and another brother-in-law whose wife is from Columbia. My family and yet another brother-in-law are the only "normal" ones to be found.

[Cheshire Grin]

I'm so sorry that those jerks treated you that way, Lightbulb.

I don't usually share details because my ethnicity is a source of very personal pride for me, but I don't let it define me. Plus, I prefer to be treated as another human being rather than as some sort of cultural liaison. Let me just say that I am brown and ethnic.

I also happen to have been raised in Montana which has more than its share of racism, particularly against Native Americans, even more so than Latinos, who are also very strongly discriminated against.

Really, the whole state is very, very, very white. It is in dire need of more diversity. The demographics are gradually shifting there, but every time the population begins to diversify, there is a backlash by Neo-Nazis and white supremacists. It's a disgusting display of ignorance that makes me ashamed of some of my fellow Montanans. I still love Montana and go back often. I want to apologize to you for the offense caused by those unsavory cretins. They should be ashamed of themselves.

About 15 years ago, a Jewish family in Billings, Montana, put a menorah in their window to celebrate their heritage during Hannukah. Some white supremacist types threw rocks through their windows. The community actually united and to show their support, published pictures of menorahs which the majority of the population posted in the windows of their homes. The campaign was called "Not In Our Town" and, to my knowledge, they have continued their battle for human rights. Not all Montanans are ignorant fools. I'm so sorry that you encountered some on facebook. I hope you reported them to facebook, too. I've heard facebook will sometimes ban people from posting, but the ban is usually only temporary.

Lightbulb and Lightbulb's family

[John25]

What a beautiful story about how a community can fight racism. Thanks for sharing!

Originally Posted by Cheshire Grin

About 15 years ago, a Jewish family in Billings, Montana, put a menorah in their window to celebrate their heritage during Hannukah. Some white supremacist types threw rocks through their windows. The community actually united and to show their support, published pictures of menorahs which the majority of the population posted in the windows of their homes. The campaign was called "Not In Our Town" and, to my knowledge, they have continued their battle for human rights.

Wow Cheshire, thank you so much for sharing. Small world! I lived in Libby, Montana from 1993-1999 an I'm sure "The whitest kids you know" could have been written there.

I was riding my bike one time when I was about 10-11 in 1995 and I went into the woods down a trail. I heard people's voices shouting and chanting. I thought, "What could this be?" I got off my bike and inconspicuously drew near a group of people surrounding a bonfire. They were throwing stuff into the fire and repeating incomprehensible phrases. They were wearing white sheets like I have seen on Forrest Gump. I got the heck away from there after that. Later on in my life I realized this very well could have been one of the KKK meetings. (I thought they were some kind of witches at the time lol, and I told all my sisters and brothers lol)

Montana. Beautiful and terrible, wonderful and horrible. Its like they are too isolated from the rest of the world to have a clear sense of reality and society. Thanks for sharing that and I'm glad that in Billings there are some progressive thinkers who refuse to be held by inherited or chosen hatred and ignorance.

I appreciate that Eskielover

Thanks Pikku myy, there's more of us too lol!

George, my kids did not see it, but my husband did. He shook his head, but he's confident enough in his own value and accomplishments to let it roll off like water. He actually found it comical seeing as how both of those men (in their 30's now) have never had a meaningful relationship and still live with their parents lol.

John, I agree with you

Maranara, I know how that is lol. My mom is married to a brilliant man who happens to be African American. We call him "Dad". He has been the best influence that an older man has had on our lives. He has supported us in many ways. Both of my sister's are also married to hispanic men. We're a mixed group of ding-dongs who enjoy eachother's company and work together to support our families. And we have some great Thanksgivings too.

Thanks everybody, I feel much, much better. Yall rock my socks!

[Alone4Years]

I am sorry to say this is not uncommon with some people, ignorance is what I chalk it up to. In our family there are several members with marriages and children of different race. Skin color says nothing about a persons character and character is what matters. We have dealt with this too. It has even come from a "friend" I have known for 30 years. I have chosen to break ties with this "friend" and write it off to ignorance. Don't let it get to you!

Thanks Alone, I'm not. Sometimes I do feel racism from my husband's family to be honest. On my Wedding day, there was a hispanic custom that we took part in where the groom sits in a chair and the new bride takes off his shoes (in preparation for taking off his shoes when he gets home from work each day lol) Over the loud speaker, Miguel's aunt cackled, "I never thought I'd see a white girl serving a Mexican!" It stung, because I am a servant at heart and race means nothing to me. Also, they post pictures on facebook with pictures of white homeless people and underneath them, hispanic people working with captions like "See the difference". It goes both ways. But in this case I was especially disheartened at the slur used and the unexpected nature of the comments. Thanks Alone

[eskielover]

It does seem that every nationality has it's own level of prejudice that comes out at times even if it's done through humor....

It's sad but will probably never see the end of that.....important thing is NOT TO LIVE that prejudice in our daily lives.

I grew up with my grandfather on my dad's side being very vocal about his prejudice. My dad was good about not being vocal about it if he did get any of that from his father. Go figure....even from my young age, I chalked it off to his being uneducated (ah, another type of prejudice in it's own way also).....but even at a very young age, I wasn't able to keep my mouth shut in confronting even my grandfather regarding the stupidity of his prejudice.....I couldn't just sit there & be quiet....so he always got an ear full from me when we visited.....definitely a visit that I never looked forward to.