Rangas

I'm constantly astounded how clever kids are when it comes to finding new ways to be prejudiced. There's a kid in year 9 who's always being hassled for looking Chinese (he isn't and, to my eyes, doesn't); there's another boy only ever referred to as a certain breed of poultry due to his size and legs; other kids are hassled for being Greek. It's an absurdly Anglo school, but even among white kids they find markers of difference. Take last Friday in one of the computer rooms.

Ben: Hey Mr B, chipmunks are orange aren't they?
MB: No, they're brown.
B: They're orange.
MB: No, they're brown. Some squirrels are red though. Why do you ask?
B: I want to call Amy chipmunk.
(Amy, with her lovely red hair, was sitting at the computer beside him. I understood what he was getting at now.)
MB: Ben, my girlfriend has red hair. I never want to hear you having a go at anyone for the colour of their hair, okay?
B: I'm still going to call her chipmunk.
A: But they're brown!
MB: Yeah Ben, I think that would make you the chipmunk.

A few minutes later, I overheard B berating A for being a 'ranga' and made him come up to my table. Explained it was okay to disagree with people for things they said and did, but never okay to disagree with them for who they are or what they look like. And he seemed, briefly, to understand. I didn't think anything more about it until I caught Amy looking up Orangutans on Wikipedia.

MB: What are you doing Amy? You're asking for trouble now...
A: (quietly) I just wanted to see what colour they were.

Ah, how my heart bled.