More about Miley

Remember the awful photo of Miley Cyrus and her friends doing the slant-eyed thing? I just read this on the blog, Resist Racism, attributed to a white adoptive parent:

What about kids who hold up their fingers and do bunny ears in photos? Should
rabbits start holding town meetings to cry racism??

(Hat tip to Harlow's Monkey for the link.)

Argghhhhhh! These are the people who give adoptive parents a bad name. And, unfortunately, I can confirm that an adoptive parent acutally said that -- I've seen the post on APC, the big yahoogroup for adoptive parents of children from China. Of course, it's not just adoptive parents who are offering these responses. But those of us parenting Asian children CANNOT TOLERATE or OFFER EXCUSES for such racist behavior.

And here's another post from Resist Racism, entitled, "Why I hate adoptive parents," refuting some other unfortunately typical responses to such racist gestures:

So for white adoptive parents who believe that Miley Cyrus’ actions are no big deal because “everybody” has made the “slant-eye” gesture at some time:

NO. We have not.

It is not “normal” to make a racist gesture at other people. And “everybody” does not do this. But what does that say about the “everybody” you’ve been hanging out with?

And this is not just a “goofy kid thing.” I’m tired of hearing this rationalization. It is racism. Children need to be taught that racism is wrong. We (hopefully) don’t allow our children to hit other children. Racism similarly should not be tolerated.

Additionally, this is not “innocuous.” It is not “in good fun.” Because for this gesture to be considered fun, you have to be accepting of the racism that it perpetuates. It’s probably helpful to be the perpetrator rather than the victim. Because while I know some people find “fun” in hurting others, it isn’t “fun” for those who are hurt.

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