Parents held responsible for racist kids

The Times, Thurs 15 March
Parents should be held responsible when their children discriminate against people of another race the SA Institute for Race Relations, said yesterday.
"It doesn't entirely surprise me that racism still exists after 18 years of democracy because young people of all races still feel fundamentally different from other groups,' says one of the institute's staff.
"It's the influence of adults and children can easily pick it up. It also spreads easily on social networks. Many young people across different races in South Africa do not socialize with other groups and don't know their cultures." Commenting on the recent racial incident in a school in KwaZulu-Natal, institute staff said there had been 'some' integration between races but a "huge amount of ignorance among racial groups" still existed.

This could be a reflection of the reality in Canada as well and reminds us all of the work we still have to do to create and build understanding and equity into our relationships with people who are different than ourselves. It may help to remind ourselves that all of us 'homo sapiens' live on the same planet and however we learn to live together and engage one another will impact all of us.