Racism vs. Discrimination

Do you know the difference between racism and discrimination? Apparently, my kids don't and they're the ones who will probably see it on a daily basis for the rest of their lives (unfortunately). Anyway, lately my kids have been calling anything and everything racist. They've been throwing it around like a beach ball to the point of the word losing it's strength and meaning. Racist is a very strong word to play around with and you aren't supposed to just throw it around like they do! I'm going to come up with a lesson on the two terms/concepts and discuss with them the importance of the words. They've already called me racist and I'm just not going to put up with that. I don't doubt that they've seen these things in action toward them at all. I believe they've experienced it more than they care to say but I'm here to tell them that if I were a racist, I wouldn't be in that room everyday, staying til 7pm sometimes trying to come up with lessons to teach their butts! If this school were really racist, they wouldn't even be admitted into classes or even allowed into the school. If this school were really racist, they wouldn't be allowed to eat in the same cafeteria as the other white students. If this school were really racist, they wouldn't be riding the same buses. I'm going to try and make the point that calling "racist" (like calling "wolf") is not something to be messing with and it will definitely put people off. I know these kids have definitely made me a little irritated at them by them calling themselves "wetbacks" and "beaners" and I'm not going to have that at all. It's a way to pull each other down and there's no excuse for that AT ALL!!! I asked them the other day why it was okay to call each other that and if somebody else said it to them what would happen? They said they'd beat the people up if they called them those names, so why is it okay for other Mexicans to call their own people that? It's such a frustrating thing to me. Why do we feel like we can own words? It's not right. One adult told me that it's because it's a way of showing the whites all of the oppression that was directed towards them and so it's a way of saying, "Look what you did to us!" Okay, that is a sad way of putting it but can't we also move on and get past that and start fresh? If you keep calling your own people those derogatory terms, are you ever going to overcome the oppression? I keep thinking about the signs in pictures during the time of MLK, Jr. that said "We Shall Overcome!" Is that going to happen if groups keep calling their own people these names? I think not.