This morning I listened to Victor Davis Hanson on the Laura Ingraham show. VDH was talking about Facebook billionaire Mark Zuckerberg's opposition to tough border enforcement, despite the glaring fact of Zuckerberg owning three palatial residences, each protected by a wall.
This made me think of my 14-year-old son who has been banned from Facebook for one week. One of the things he likes to do with his 16-year-old brother is go to a nearby park to play basketball. People of all ethnic backgrounds challenge each other to pickup games. The other night the boys came home telling me what a great time they had. There was one black kid, three white kids, two Arabs, and two Asians. It was the first time most of them had ever seen each other. Right away they began teasing each other by making fun of stereotypes.
They called the Asian kids chow mein and Yao Ming, the black kid accused the Asians of being dog-eaters. Everybody accused the black kid of being the worst player there, unlike what might have been expected on a basketball court. The Arab kids were called Mohammed, Osama, and ISIS. The white kids were called names that indicated they were overprotected and overprivileged.
When my boys are back in New Mexico they engage in similar banter with Hispanic or Mexican peers. One of those peers jokingly messaged my son recently on Facebook to "go back to your house; maybe your mom will make you some Tostitos." My son responded, "If my mom ever made that beaner food for me, I'd throw it out and move out on the streets."
Facebook then suspended my son for one week for using racist language.
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