M., im sorry to say but the ignorance in people will never change. I came here as an immagrant in the early 70's, i was young but i had teenage sisters. They were brutilized by the other children. They were called all kinds of names and made fun of. It drove 2 of my sisters to drop out of High School and get married at such an early age. That was more then 30 years ago. My parents didnt speak english, everytime we would go someplace people would even make fun of them. Its such a cruel world. We over came it somehow, we came such along way. We all found our place in this country, we all became US citizens, went to college and got great jobs. And somehow the city and state that i grew up in seemed to change, for us and all immagrants that came there. We were no longer looked down on, we were finally excepted. Well, unfortunatly, in recent years, because of recent events that have taken place in this world, it all changed again. My mother recently came to visit me here in California, as we waited at a red light one day, a Hispanic man, stopped in front of our car and started laughing directly in her face. She turned and looked at me and said, see we have been set back 30 years again, cause that man as laughing at me. I felt so bad for her, i wanted to cry. I didnt no what to say, but i felt the hurt for her, deep in my gut. I realized that this world will never change. As a mother i teach my children, that there is no difference in color, race, or religion. There is no question about it in our house, everybody gets treated the same, my kids are allowed to be friends with anyone that they choose, as long as they are good kids. With my kids, i do tell them what they are and where thier roots are, but i also let them know that this is thier Country, just as much as anyone elses. Speaking to them about these things are so important to me. My 5 year old son was asking me about religion the other day, i told him, that everyone is entitled to thier own beliefs, and that we should respect all religions, no matter what, no if, ands or buts about it. As far as color goes in our home, its not an issue, i grew up in Detroit, where everyone there was mixed, my kids lived there too, so thier views on color is that were all the same, no matter what color we are. Im, talking to much now, but i guess what im trying to say is that IGGNORANCE and PREJUDICE, are taught at home, practiced at home. If you teach your children the right way then they will learn how to deal with it. Good Luck, to you and your daughters.
A.!