Have you ever suffered from racial bias/slurs?

Susie

Susie

Member
Location
Australia
As a child I lived with my grandparents, both sets living only 1 block apart.
Often visited mom's parents when great-grandma was still alive.
When she passed away at age 88 I was not allowed to attend the funeral with grandparents.
Often asked myself "why not" ?
Is there the faintest possibility my grandparents were afraid I would be tainted by great-gran's surname which was 'Levin'.
(After all this was Ge. 1937-38)
Have you experienced 'bias' in the country you are now living, or has 'bias' been successfully suppressed?
 

I traveled by plane a lot in the early 2000's, and was invariably sent to the line where "random" people and their carry-on bags were searched a bit more intensely than others. This would occur right after I presented my I.D.. I'm convinced it was due to my surname.
 
Good Heavens no...my parents grew up in small town PA in the 1930's. The Italians, Irish and Polish immigrants had their own block of town. My parents moved to a more urban setting and became more open minded than the rest of family. Although because of friends lost in WWII my mom always referred to the Japanese in a nasty way.

When my brother introduced his wife to be...she was a nursing student and very sweet, Irish they could deal with but Catholic? Plus they wanted a Catholic wedding? Hummm well that had our family buzzing for awhile. Something funny, during the ceremony my relatives were watching from the audience. They thought the priest was slighting my brother letting his wife kneel at the alter and not him. She wasn't kneeling, he is 6'4 and she is 5'1.;)

Then I came home and said I was marrying an Italian American and once again Mom was not pleased. They got over it eventually. But it did take awhile.
 

Some folks don't like their name (S), so they change it. Problem solved.

Why hang on to something you don't like just to carry on with a family tradition. Silly IMHO.
 
Within the UK, we do have a bit of 'rivalty' between countries. This is mostly good natured, though some people feel there is animosity between England & Scotland or England & Wales. Personally I have never encountered any.
The worst I have encountered is religious bias. I grew up in a culture where the worst crime you could commit was to marry a Catholic. I have known daughters to be disowned by their parents for such a 'crime'.
 
No, not for race or religion. In school, kids disliked me for being very tall and I got picked on and beaten up alot. But nothing serious like adult prejudices.
 
Falcon said:
Some folks don't like their name (S), so they change it. Problem solved.

Why hang on to something you don't like just to carry on with a family tradition. Silly IMHO.
Click to expand...
Can't imagine anyone trotting to the "Rathaus" (city hall) in 1937/38, asking for a Jewish surname to be changed to a more Germanic one.
 

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