? My friends and I always talk about it. We've decided that we aren't prejudiced, but there are people who are low-class, not because of their race, just because of them.”
--Jacqueline, 12
"I think my sub. teacher is prejudiced because she always ignores me and other kids in the class. One day she spoke out the word ‘choke’ into ‘cholk’ so I raised my hand and said ‘Excuse me, it's pronounced choke. ’ Then meanly she said ‘It’s pronounced cholk. You get it?’”
--Ayesha, 11
"Actually...yes! I've had a friend that was prejudiced! In my fifth grade class, I made friends with this girl who was an outcast. Since I was kind of an outcast as well we were two peas in a pod! Then that friend moved away and I made friends with one of the more popular girls, Rebekah.”
--'DW', 13
"Well, I’m Hispanic and I just recently just found out that my now, former-friend, had grown a grudge against me since we first met last year...some people these days...”
--Anonymous, 13
"No, but whenever someone refers to Native Americans as ‘Indians,’ I speak up and say that I’m a Native American, and that it kind of offends me.”
--Kiera, 9
“These guys I knew from school named Kevin and Quinton who also went to my old dance studio were getting picked on by some kids. They seemed prejudiced against gays. They called Quinton 'Queerton' and Kevin 'Queervin'. They aren't gay. I don't have a problem with gay people but I know that those two are not gay.”
--Livigirl, 12
"When I was 5 there was a kid that just moved all the way from Russia named Dimitry. When he came everybody was really nice to him, but like 3 weeks later the teachers were calling him terrorist because when he came I think it was when we had the Cold War with Russia.”
--Manny
"Not really, though in kindergarten, a girl told another girl with freckles you can't be pretty if you have freckles. I befriended the girl, and although we aren't the best of friends, we like each other, I think!”
--Kiera , 9
"My dad...ugh! He thinks he's racist, but I know him. Underneath the jokes that I yell at him for, he really isn't prejudiced.”
--Mary Clarice, 13
"Not really. My twin brother acts prejudiced sometimes but he's just joking. By the way, I’m Chinese American. I’m also Christian. This one girl in my grade keeps asking whether I’m Chinese, Japanese or Korean. It's kind of annoying.”
--Kevin, 13
“Not really, but sometimes I do get picked on because I’m mixed (biracial). My dad is white and my mom is black. It's mostly some younger neighbors, actually. They call me a 'zebra' because I am black and white. Also, they tell me I can't be two races, I only can be one. I understand where they are coming from because they are younger and don't know any better. But that is still incredibly rude because I am proud to be mixed race! My dad is French-American and my mom is Jamaican.”.”
--Michelle, 12
"I have a friend that some people consider gay, and some of my other friends also talk about him behind his back. I kind of consider them being prejudiced, so I had got the courage to confront them about it. And the worst thing that happened was they decided to stop being my friend. But I got over it and now I have a new set of friends who accept people for who they are.”
--TB, 12
"He was not exactly prejudiced, but sometimes it seemed like he was. My friend is black and is adopted into a white family. He called her a bad name for black people. I don't know if it is prejudiced, but he was certainly mean to her.”
--Sweetheart, 11
“None of my friends are prejudiced…that I know of, anyway. I don't like people getting put down because of their race, background, or appearance. I am English, German, and a little bit Indian. All I can say is just don't judge people by their appearances and try to make friends with them before you do.”
--Katelyn
"When I was 4 I went to this school in Liverpool. It was quite good but there was this girl who was racist and she and her friend always, always picked on me and pinched me at playtimes. I moved on, then I went to this other school and it was OK. Well, nobody really picked on me, but then I realized those two girls had come to the school!!! How I knew was that 1: they looked the same and 2: they were racist to another girl (who is now my friend). It’s lucky that they have finished school, but I’m not sure if they have gone in the secondary school that I’m going to. But I don’t care about that because it doesn’t bother me anymore because I was little at that time and now I have grown and I'll just say they are being stupid idiots who can't face reality! WOW, it feels good to get it all out of me!!!”
--'Black' Girl, 11
"He wasn’t my friend, but he was my friend’s friend. He said before we played b-ball that girls were the hardest people to play with during sports. He cheats in games and everyone knows it. I just HAAATE him. His name is Kevin.”
--Charli, 10
“Not really. I live in a suburb of Newark (NJ) and there are kids of all races. My group of friends is all integrated. There is me (white), Jocelyn (white), Shaunta (black), Brinia (Latino), and Clementine (Asian). No one I know is prejudiced. My brother's friends can make racist jokes sometimes though.”
--Annie, 10
"This is to everyone: I think it's really sad being racist or prejudiced 'cause we all live on the same planet and you should respect everyone who has life on it. It is just unfair that you get picked on because your race had war and were tourists or you just think they shouldn’t be in your country 'cause they were not originated from there. Heck, we might as well call all people that are mean in the US and Great Britain sad and stupid 'cause their race had war and thought everything of themselves as well. Don't get me wrong though, none of MY friends are racist. They never have been and never will be…I hope!!!”
--'Black'Girl, 11
“I have known people who seem prejudiced, but really are not. I myself am not prejudiced because in my old neighborhood there were blacks, whites, you name it. I sometimes feel bad for kids who are biracial because they can get picked on for not being just one race.”
--Olivia, 12
"I’m Native American, African American, Chinese, French, and Dominican. And I’m still an American! I’m also half Jewish and half Christian. I’m easy to make fun of but I’m proud of my heritage!”
--Anonymous
"Hey Morgen: I know how you feel. My mom is all Jewish so I’m considered Jewish. But I have a really good friend who respects my religion and I respect hers (she is Catholic). I am part Spaniard, Native American, Mexican, and Native Mexican.”
--Emily
"There's this boy named Patrick who always says nasty stuff about me and mean things just because I am Indian, and he thinks that he is better than me because he's white. I don't like people who are racist because it's boring to just hang out with one race."
--Simie, 13
"When I was in 2nd grade this girl named Lauren, who was black, was mean to me a lot. One time I was watching her and her friends play Chinese jumprope and she said 'Go away, white girl.’ I ran and sat down and started to cry. Then these older girls helped me and we resolved it peacefully. Then Lauren let me and my friends play with her sometimes. She was older than me.”
--Olivia, 12
"When I was 8, this boy named Erik started calling me Chinese, but I am Japanese.”
--Michiko, 13
“Most of my friends do not get picked on because of race, and they do not pick on anyone because of race. If they ever do, I'll say 'Hey, that's not right, so STOP.’”
--Talia, 11
"I’m not prejudiced against colors of people. I think especially for black people, if they get put down it really hurts me. Even though I’m white, Martin Luther King Jr. Is my hero. I think that if a black person gets picked on, I’m thinking ‘Hallo, it’s year 2005.’ They worked hard to not have people be prejudiced towards them. People I am prejudiced towards are girls who like every boy. I think that because of the woman nowadays they’ve turned the young girl society terrible. I go to school with girls who date boys that are like 10 years older than them and they’re only 13 and 14. It’s sick.”
--Lauren, 13
"I moved here from Japan a few years ago. When I went to school, everyone was looking at me because I had on a silky Japan traditional outfit. They asked what my name was, and said ‘My name is Jenna’ and they waved hello. Well in that crowd was a girl I thought was nice, and her name was Kimi. She looked really nice, and she was cool, glitter jeans and a tank top that said ‘rodeo all-star.’ She was really nice at the time, she showed me around, to the teachers, and even complimented on my outfit. Then one day she invited herself to my house. I didn't argue. I wanted to show Mom and Dad and my sister Maggie that I had friends. Well, she came over and she laughed right out loud. I said ‘Kimi, what’s so funny?’ she just kept on laughing. Then she explained. ‘Your house is so weird. You have Japanese junk everywhere! And look at that table! And your clothes!’ I was hurt that Kimi didn't like my tradition, but even more hurt that she made fun of it. I asked her to leave, and she said, ‘no way! I’m not done laughing yet!’ and I said, ‘Well go laugh somewhere else, Kimi!’ I knew that day that Kimi wasn’t a good friend, and that I was judged by my tradition by far. A couple weeks ago, I ran into Kimi again, and now she had no friends and really wanted to be mine! And I said something as simple as this: ‘Kimi, you wouldn't want to hang with me! I’m the girl with the stupid traditions!’”
--Jenna, 11
"Yea, my friends all think everyone is equal, except a few. They know it’s wrong, and try not to make comments, but, well, they have pretty big mouths.”
--Bridget, 11
"Everyone in my class who is pure white is Italian. I am Slovak and Russian so the Italian kids formed a group and left me out. But another girl is Slovak and so I hang with her.”
--Ed, 9
"In the second grade there was this girl who just moved here from Nigeria. Everyone teased her. They didn't think it would bother her because they didn't think she understood. But one day on a field trip her sister said that she didn't like school because everyone was mean to her. You shouldn't assume that the person you make fun of doesn't care because they just might.”
--Aimee, 12
"I’m a quarter Jewish and the rest Catholic. Whenever a Jewish holiday comes up one of my friends acts like it isn't important at all. Like one time at my sixth grade holiday party me, my friend Clara, and my friend Tyler were all passing notes to each other and Clara started making fun of Hanukah and it really got me mad. I simply told her that it wasn't nice or fair and if she didn't want a friend who was EXACTLY the same as her, fine! But then she understood me and whenever someone else makes fun of me she sticks up for me!”
--Morgen, 11
"I am a black, and I go to a school where there are almost no blacks. I met this girl who told me that I could be her friend (she was white). Later on, I went a bit to close to a conversation, and heard her say, ‘How many blacks does it take to unscrew a light bulb?’ You may not think this is offensive, but to unscrew a light bulb is easy. If it takes more than one person, they consider you 'dumb.' I just stopped being friends with her.”
--Abby, 10
“I moved here (to North Dakota) when I was 10 from Argentina. These kids yelled at me and were like 'Mexican! Mexican!' I hated that. Then one day I did a report on Argentina and I mentioned I was from there. Then this girl named Shelley apologized to me. I have cousins in Mexico but I myself am not Mexican. Now I am best friends with Shelley and her friends McKenna, Nichole, Nesta, and Kaia. Kaia is different like me. She speaks Lithuanian sometimes with her mom and dad. Also Nesta died last month. When she was alive she had Progeria which makes you like an old person and you are very short. You shouldn't judge someone because they are different from you.”
--Manny, 13
“Yes, she hates girly-girls.”
--Anonymous
"I'm pretty lucky not most of my friends (Kelly, Aubrey, Ashley, Heather, Meighan, Tara, Alicia, and Sarah) but Amy -- different story. She hates non-what our religion is. You know what, I wish she wasn't.”
--Stephanie, 12
“I moved from Kansas to LA last year. It's OK now, but not last year. I had this 'friend,' Tiffany. She used to be acting all weird when she came over to my house. She would laugh hysterically at this headdress I have on my living room wall. She wouldn't touch the food my mom made. I suspected she was prejudiced against Native Americans. It was confirmed when she and I were rolling around in my backyard. Her parents started yelling at my parents. They said 'Do not teach my daughter these things! Come, Tiffany, get away from these people before they get the tomahawk.' I cried a lot. Then Tiffany and her friends were teasing me once, but one of the friends got tired of it and stood with me. Soon her other friends joined us and we walked away. These girls think it's cool that I'm Native American. They ask me all sorts of stuff about festivals and culture. I like having such cool friends!”
--Ashley "Rain Storm", 13
“This girl named Sophie was making fun of me once. But one time, at recess, she saw me crying and came over and talked to me. She said that she was only trying to fit in with her friends who hate black people like me. She apologized, and now she is my best friend. Her friend Katie became friends with me too. They left this girl named Arielle alone and lonely.”
--D'Janae, 9
"I think so because my class, they think I’m anorexic or bulimic just because I look it when I’m not. They also think I’m gay cuz I watch America’s Next Top Model. They also don’t like my music because it’s Japanese pop. Most kids are because they don’t like different and they think different means weird to them."
--Russell, 12
“I'm white but all my friends are Spanish. No one makes fun of them but sometimes I feel weird when they talk in Spanish to each other because I don't know if they're talking about me.”
--Jillian, 11
“Sometimes, I feel like everyone is prejudiced against me just because I get straight A's, wear glasses, and read a lot of books. Plus, I can't eat this and that because of my allergies. Now that I've just moved to a new school, it got even worse because some of my best friends were at my old school! My old friends, although they got grades a little worse than me, weren’t jealous of me! Now I get stares whenever I approach my ‘friends.’ Like, they aren't friends!”
--Shannon, 11
"I have a friend who isn't allowed to go to certain people's houses and maybe it's because her parents are prejudiced. She's allowed to go to some of her friends’ houses but not all."
--Emma, 11
"I am half Native American and when my mom comes to pick me up some kids ask me why she doesn't wear feathers and make war whoops at me in the halls. My friend Jenny is teased by black kids because they say she is a snob who hates black people just because she is white, lives in a nice house and is an only child! My friend Mina is teased because she is Korean."
--Courtney, 12
"My friend Beth said something mean about gay people and I said, 'Hey Beth, don't say that around me. I feel uncomfortable when you say that because my uncle is gay.' After that she apologized. We are not exactly friends, but we are on good terms and I like that."
--LizRay, 12
“This kid at school doesn't believe in God and hates everyone at school because he's the only one who thinks his parents make him. I tried to tell him that people believe in different things, like I believe that God is one and only and made everyone and everything (I'm Muslim). Then he just walked away.”
--Rylie, 11
“A girl in my class calls me her best friend but I don't want to be her friend because her other friend is racist to me. Just because her best friend is popular doesn't mean that she can be a racist to me or other kids at my school!!”
--Ashley, 11
"My friend is sort of prejudiced. She makes generalizations about everyone. So I ditch her. Then she figures it out and goes to find me and apologize. She keeps doing it and it's a really bad habit that she needs to stop."
--Ashlynn, 12
"There are a lot of issues at my school of Mexicans accusing the whites of being racist and I am not a racist person. I look white, have blonde hair, green-blue eyes, the typical 'white girl'. I am more Mexican than I am white. I'm German, French, Indian, Scottish, Irish, Mexican, White, and English. There was this Muslim boy named Bobby (SO ANNOYING) who sat at my table during the SAT's because my best friend and I always talked to each other and he started bugging me. He put up all these books and kept saying 'Don't you cheat off my paper.' He's like a rapper or whatever and my reply was, 'Why would I cheat on you if 1.You don't have an IQ and 2.The questions and answers are different for each booklet?' I left him speechless and was getting annoyed so he blew up and he started getting racist. 'It's because I'm Muslim huh?' he said and he was calling me white girl. So I said, 'Stop hiding behind your color and making fun of mine!!' He shut up instantly. My brother also had this big issue because he's the typical stereotype DORK or GEEK! He just has anger problems (he's my twin) and all these Mexicans and African Americans started calling him 'crazy white boy' and the Africans were saying, 'You enslaved us.' So thanks for reading, and color or weight doesn't matter; you do."
--Rachel (llama), 13
"My crush is racist, but it doesn't bother me because he hates almost everybody in the world. He just needs to be loved."
--Reisa
"My PE teacher is prejudiced. When we were doing baseball in PE he had to pitch slowly to the girls so we could actually hit it. It was going so slow we couldn't hit it even if we tried!! He was once passing out candy to the class and he didn't give any to us girls because he said we didn't deserve it!!! But he gave the boys a lot!!! Come on!!!"
--Roxy, 13
"At my old school a lot of the kids made fun of me because I didn't, and still don't, believe in God. Once, we visited an old Spanish mission (I live in CA) with a church in it. So some of the kids started to talk about Christ and God and things like that, and when I asked them to stop because it made me uncomfortable, they told me that if I didn't believe what they believe I would go to hell. Then the teacher told them to respect other people's beliefs."
--Nicolas Elizabeth, 11
"I have a friend that is gay and people say it's wrong and that he shouldn't be. People think gay people choose to be gay, but why would someone choose to be made fun of? No one wants to be an outcast so of course no one would choose to be gay!!! THEY ARE BORN THAT WAY!!! GET IT THROUGH YOUR HEADS!!!"
--Someone, 12
"Well not really, but when I was in grade one there was this girl named S and during music class she stood up and said, 'OK, how about this? No brown skin people in our school!'"
--A., 9
"A ton of guys at my school think that girls can't play sports well and a whole lot of girls make it true (I'd like to say that I don't). I get really frustrated when guys say, 'You can't do that because you're a girl.' It's so prejudiced."
--Tyler, 12
"I've never had a prejudiced friend. I am Mexican and I have a lot of friends. My best friend is black but I don't care because we've been friends too long. My other friends at school are blacks, whites, Mexicans and other races that I am not going to talk about. If you ever have a prejudiced friend, tell them that having all races of friends is fun!! Tell them that you are not their friend anymore. Then tell them that they should have different races of friends. Then walk away and don't ever talk to that person until they like other races."
--Perla, 13
"None of my friends are, but I think I might be. I mean, I get nervous around people of other cultures but I don't look down on them or anything. I mean I have a friend who's Vietnamese and two friends that are black and I don't get nervous around them. Just other people. Does that make me prejudiced?"
--Anonymous
"They're not exactly my friends, but I know an entire group of girls that I think are racist. Though we have people of Japanese, Italian, British, Spanish, Egyptian, and many other heritages in my class, we have never had a black person before. A new girl came who was black and these girls took one look at her and started making up bad rumors about her. This may have to do with the fact that she is a little slow, but that's never been a problem before among those girls. I think that it's terrible to judge someone by their color or what they look like, which especially seems to be a problem in this society (people being prejudiced against overweight people, in other words). Racism and prejudice is wrong and more should be done to stop it."
--Morgan, 13
"I do have a prejudiced friend. A new school year began and one of the teachers had gotten married over the summer. Her last name was changed to a common Chinese one. My friend kept making fun of her last name for some reason. I am Asian so I was a bit offended. I am still her friend but it makes me wonder if she thinks I am weird just because of my last name and culture and background."
--Tori, 11
"I think my friend Kasey is prejudiced because every time a black person walks by she gets mad and tells them to go back to Africa. She really makes me mad. My friend Monica is black and Kasey said she was a bad word and now Kasey and I aren't friends."
--Tanya, 10
"I've never had a prejudiced friend, but this past year our class was in a debate about the Confederate Flag. My friends and I like our Southern heritage and my teacher doesn't. During the debate she called us prejudiced. It made me really mad because people should be allowed to like their heritage."
--Meg, 12
"Yes, there was a girl in my class who was from a country experiencing war. She was from an Indian country and was black. She did not know how to act like all of us so everyone made fun of her accent and such. Sad to say but I was a part of the making fun. I totally regret that. In grade 3 there was a really nice girl named Zoha. She was from Pakistan and everyone was against people from Pakistan. I was her only friend. She did tend to brag a little but that's no need to make fun of her because of her culture."
--Elspeth, 10
"Nope, but I feel very sorry for the people who do have prejudiced friends."
--Will, 10
"There's a girl in my class who's from Iran, and at her old school everyone thought she was a terrorist."
--Nicolas, 11
"I have not had a prejudiced friend, even though I am mostly Hindu (Indian, NOT native American). I have another friend at school who is Hindu and she has dark skin (unlike me) and claims people in her class act rude and make fun of her because of her skin color. I don't think that is right at all! I mean, people have freedom and rights and it is time to move on. I want to go up to them and say, 'Get a life and move on!'"
--Clementine, 10
"I don't have any friends that are prejudiced or know anyone who is. I can't imagine kids and other people who are. How could you not like someone because of their color? Especially if it's a parent who wouldn't let their kid play with kids that are of a different race! Parents are supposed to be a good example! I can't believe it!"
--Anonymous
“It makes me so mad to hear about the things people at my school say about certain people. They are human beings just like the rest of us!”
--Andrea
“I have never had a prejudiced friend, but if I did I would tell them they need to give someone a chance before they judge.”
--April, 12
"Yes. I used to have a friend who was prejudiced towards black people. When I got signs it was happening, I tried to ask her about it, but she refused to listen. So after that we met at my house and I locked the door of my room and sat her down. I tried to get through to her that all people are created equal. I told her if she can't accept that, we can't be friends. Basically, what I'm trying to say is you should stand up for yourself and others against prejudiced people because that's not right!"
--Duchana, 11
"No matter how hard we try, there is still going to be racism. We all just have to ignore it because the person who is saying that kind of stuff isn't worth our time. We're all the same, so why do people judge us by our skin color? I sure don't know but we can make it less common if we ignore it. Oh and yes I do have a prejudiced friend but she is a nice person and she knows that I don't like it when she talks down to other races. She kinda keeps her mouth shut even when I'm not there. You all might think I'm up in arms about racism but part of me is like they should just ignore it and part of me says that's awful. But what can you do? I've gtg so buh-bye!"
--Jessica, 11
“Hi and yes, I had a prejudice friend. I have a lot of Hispanic friends and one day my very best friend Angely just started to make fun of me because I'm Hispanic and she’s African American. She told me I was no good and stuff like that so I just left her and now she’s a lonely soul.”
--Stephanie, 11
“My friend was not prejudiced but her dad was. I remember one time when I was eight, me and my black friend and my white friend were playing. As we always did we went to my white friend’s house to play and suddenly her dad says she couldn’t play with blacks anymore. He said it right in front of my black friend. I had to play with one friend in the morning and one friend in the afternoon until the end of the summer when my white friend moved to Arkansas.”
--Sydney, 11
“Yes, and I told them that we couldn’t be friends anymore.”
--Christi
"Ok, we went to a place where we went on a tour. I live in the South but I had never experienced racism before. The tour guide showed us the slave quarters and said they were 'very happy and content.' NOT!! I spoke up but she did not agree. Everyone IS created equal!"
--Alexis, 12
"I'm an African-American and my friend is Caucasian. He liked me but doesn't seem to like other African-Americans and some of my other friends who are African-American. What shall I do?"
--Brandon, 11
"I have a really fun, nice friend that is African American. In fourth grade, I had no idea about this, but kids were telling her to go back to where she belongs and they also called her a monkey. I had no idea until recently."
--Lindsay, 11
"Yes, I think I have had a very prejudice friend before. She would always make fun of people that weren't her race and she would always get mad because I would ask her if she was a racist or anything. She would start lecturing me about how not racist she was but she has told me that she doesn't like people out of her race because 'they act different'."
--Erin, 12
"As far as I know, none of my friends are and I am glad. The Bible says everyone was created equal."
--Alexis, 12
“I have some friends that are different races and they hang out. Someone said that they were ‘prejudiced’ for hanging out with each other. They were pretty dumb for thinking something like that.”
--Balh, 11
“Well he's not really my friend, but I know someone who says that his dad doesn't let him hang out with one of his friends because he's Hispanic or something. I didn't do anything about it because I’m not really his friend, but I do hope that other people will do things about stuff like that if they have that problem.”
--Chelsea, 11
“Well I thought my friend was prejudiced but it wasn't about someone's race, it was about someone who was gay. It really upset me. I talked to her about it and I think she changed her mind because she finally understood what it would be like to have everyone against you because of how you feel.”
--Pinke, 13
“Hello my name is Shae. Yes, I have had a friend who was prejudiced and when I found out, we stopped being friends because she couldn’t play with black people. That was the end of us.”
--Arrashae, 10
“One of my friends was prejudiced against gay people and I told her how I felt about it. She got mad and now we're not friends.”
--Renee, 12
“I have had lots of friends that are different races. They shouldn’t be treated differently because of their skin color. I have had friends that were prejudiced.”
--Amanda, 12
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