I will admit...although many wouldn't..that I have bought into stereo-types. If I see a group of black youths with baggy pants & do rags....my brain thinks 'GANG'...that's the rap/gang culture "image"...they seem to be trying to represent. ..so that's how I react. (Maybe I'm just getting old...and that's how old people react to youth...period..skin color matching mine or not because I'd be wary of the same group if they were white, too..)

Overall.....I do treat individuals as just that, individuals!! I had friends of all races growing up...some good & some bad in all colors. One of my daughters best friends is black....she's a great kid..!!!

There are neighborhoods that I wouldn't want my daughter "hanging out in"...some predominatley white..some predominately black..some mixed...but it has to do with the roughness of the area (the character of the people in it), crime, drugs, etc.....not the skin color of those who live their. There were some pretty mean characters in the neighborhood I grew up in...

Talk to your SD....let her know the difference.. It comes down to character .. not race.

I think that as a practice, it is BAD to say something to SD against biomom…HOWEVER in this case…I believe that there is an obligation to speak up and be the voice of reason! Good JOB!

Make a GREAT Day!

It is very big of you to admit that you have bought into sterotypes…I think that it is nearly impossible to grow up in AMERICA and not buy into them to some degree…Dateline NBC did a report on race the other night and they set up a “video game” type test and in the course of the game there were pictures of a black man with a gun and a white man with a gun to people of all races …they found that in EVERY CASE people did not hesitate to “fire” at the black man with the gun but did hesitate before “shooting” at the white man with the gun…even black people did this…they have also scanned brain activity and found that the brain of most people (black and white) associates “minorities” with negative things and whites with positive things…so basically we have ALL been brainwashed to some degree when it comes to race even if it is only subconsciously…sad but true…the only way to undue it is one step at a time like bonusmom did…I want to have a son one day and as an African-American woman it saddens me that people will see my son and see “danger” when I have every intention to raise him to be a productive, compassionate, intelligent member of society…but hey, such is life….I could tell you stories! I remember being in the grocery store, buying a bottle of wine and having my bank card mistaken for a “food stamp” card…just b/c I am black and it was the first of the month…I and 27, own my own home, and have a Master’s degree from a Private School and at times people will still mistake me for a “welfare mom”…not to say that there is something wrong with government assistance but…don’t “type” the people who receive it as just being young black women! Okay…that turned into a VENT! LOL….

Make a GREAT Day!

It's not just race stereo types... I've been out shoppng and looking scruffy....I couldn't get one those snotty bitches who worked there to give me the time of day.

(I used to work for a engineering consulting firm and was often on location on construction sites and I popped in on my lunch hour)

And when I'm dressed fine in my office clothes....I get a completely different reaction......

It drives me crazy!!!! I'm the same on the inside..regardless of my appearace..that day or any other!!! I can only imagine how insulted you felt!! I guess that was a socio-economic stereotype that i was subjected to, also...they figured by looking at me...I had no money to spend in their store. Wrong!!

You right...I think everyone is guilty of stereotyping at some point..about something... Often people are afraid to admit it or it's taboo to discuss it.

Wow... never though about any of that stuff before. I have however gotten negative responses from people - especially elderly- becasue I am white and my husband is mexican. I have wondered how this will affect our kids. My son has my husbands features but inheretid my light skin tone. Yet our last name is Sanchez. I ALWAYS get id' when people see my name. For instance at blockbuster- i had my actual blockbuster card, the lady read the name and asked to see some id.

I think that what a person thinks about stereotypes has a lot to do with their upbringing. I was brought up in the city in a very racially mixed neighborhood. Because of this I was exposed to all different kinds of people. Also most of my friends growing up were of other races. I'm not perfect though and racial stereotypes (and racism)were rampant among many people I was close to while growing up. I am Cherokee Indian so I heard both sides of it,blacks talking about white people and the whites talking about black people. I was once even called an "Indian ni**** bit**" by a kid I went to high school with. While most of my people are thought of as alcoholic, pot smokers who live off the government on reservations...I haven't had too much experience with others putting this stereotype on me.

The people I feel the worst for right now are those from the Middle East and muslims. I would hate to walk around with everyone treating me like I am a terrorist. I hear a lot about them being treated badly ever since the attacks.

You go girl! I'm w/you 100%. Ex is just the type of person we don't want to poison our children with. She needs to GROW UP! I'm glad you told SD what you said.

-happy mom