Hello Tyra,

I work with Native American youth on a daily basis, and find it frustrating when you, and others in mainstream media, talk about racism and you discriminate against another race of people by your exclusion in your segments - the Native American people.

Our people were here on this land long before any others ventured this way. Our people have endured more racism than any other race in our country. Why? Because even as of today, we are not recognized as a race of people when segments like this run. What makes it so easy to discriminate against us?

Then people wonder why our children have high suicide rates, have a high risk of alcoholism, etc. It's not the total reason, but you play a part in this.

Then, when called to the floor, an menial apology is made. Is that supposed to make things better?

I sit here day after day working with these students telling them that they can be somebody, they're worth it!!

I hope you read this and I hope you are pro-active about addressing this problem. You are not the only person - Ben Stein just talked about the races (Black, Asian, Hispanic and White) on this past Sunday's segment of "Sunday Morning."

As a person of color, and as a woman of color - don't forget!! It's not just about the Hispanics, the Asians and the African-Americans.....because it truly began with the Native Americans!

Thank You!

Hi Tyra,

I'm sad to hear race relations are not better than they are. I'm a African American woman who is more attracted to men outside my race and legally younger then me. Instead of spreading the hate, let us know how we can find each other. Its a cess pool out there and I'm not interested in the ones who hate but want to love and be loved.

Play matchmaker and give us a list of the best interracial dating websites or come up with your own plan to help us lonely hearts of different races find each other.

I think people should realize we are really all the same color. Our blood is blue until it gets oxygen then when you get a cut it comes out red. We all bleed and we all bleed the same color. We all hurt, feel happiness, feel sad, feel scared etc. We all have people who love us and we all have people we love. You wouldn't want anyone to hurt you or you loved ones so why would you want to hurt someone else? Please try to remember before you pass judgement on someone else how you would feel if someone were to pass the same judgement on you. You can't judge a book by its cover and you can't judge a person by their color. I would like to think that I never do, but I know that I sometimes I am prejudice but then I try to remember how I would feel if somebody treated me that way and I step back and ask God for forgiveness for my bad thought. I do love every person, I never hate and I believe that there is good in everybody sometimes you just have to dig deep to find it in some people. I don't believe anybody should be treated bad for being another race or religion or for believing differently than someone else. Just remember like I said at the beginning of this, we all bleed red.

Hey Tyra I Am canadian, and I live in BC, and I am Native... I have experienced alot of racism in my life it's so crazy how people are like that here.When I'm hanging out with my friends white people always give us these dirty looks.White girls would even try to start a fight for no reason.As a teenager It's tough because there are alot of natives in BC and almost every single one of us go through the same experience. I watch your show everyday!! I love you tyra!!!

at my school it is hard to deal because alot of people don't know that they are saying racist things but they still say them and it hurts because there so many and i think you you can come across to alot of people and i thank you for that.. kayla

tyra, i was watching your show on nov 21,2006 and you had a young latino lady from texas stating that she thinks all black women are on welfare, living in the projects and having baby after baby. well let me tell you, i'm from new orleans and resided in houston from hurricane katrina. she canot talk about black women. you would be suprised to see how many young young girls and women (latina),that are constantly pregnate. they see us having kids as our welfare ticket, we and also whites, see them having babies as a way to stay in the country. i'm part latino though i don't speak spanish, but it's bad enough that the people from new orleans get treated as illegal immigrants, but it's even worst to get treated that bad from another race that's going through the same racial problems as blacks. my nephew says that in his school, the black latino's are not even reconized by hispanics, they hang with blacks and even then, they still have a hard time because of the accent they carry. most of my friends are latino's black and fair skin. i just had to get this off my chest.

gabby

Tyra-My name's Catherine and I'm 16 years old.I just finished watching your show today dicussing racisim and I was very glad to see that because even with it being year 2006, so many people still have racist ideas about blacks. I am white and my boyfriend is black. A lot of my family and friends are surprised that I go out with him and are always questioning me about why I go out with a black guy. It's uncomfertable to always be asked about it and to have family that doesn't believe blacks and whites should date each other. I'm very curious how other couples like us who have racist family and friends deal with this conflict and would very much like to see a show about black and white couples. Thank you!

A Constiutional Amendment barring discrimation based on race like in the South Africa Constitution.

I enjoy watching the Tyra show because I think it touches on some important issues. Racism is one of those issues. And the shows that are done on it are great.

However, it is frustrating for me to watch show after show on racism knowing that one race is continually being left out and that is the founding cultural group of this nation.

Native American people are the invincible race. In fact when msyelf and others I know work with Native youth and talk about culture we need to teach them about how thier race is invincible.

There is so much racism directed towards Native people and it is never addressed in public.

Colonizers tried to wipe out our people and this way of living is being continued even with the best of interests like forgetting our race on shows on racism. At the same time I get frustrated about this I feel a little relieved because I just don't know if someone could address issues of racism towards Native people and still be respectful in doing so.

My suggestion for the future is to fight racism by including Native people in your talks of racism.
Thank You.

Tyra asked why race was still such a major issue and set out to determine which race had it worse

Keiera and Shayla discuss racism within their own race

Tyra examined racism within the same race

Hi Tyra:

Your show is captivating me about issues and things that bring-together people’s attention.
I want to answer your question asked, “why race was still such a major issue and set out to determine which race had it worse.” No two races will ever go together so it is all about prejudices against what is not socially accepted even among people of the same race. The mix-up today is the concept “multiculturalism.” It is being study today as a new racism because of depicting primitive groups and the equality and value of moral judgments.

Tyra, you examined Shayla and Keiera interact and disuss racism within their own race. Shayla told Keiera that she needed to educate herself. In other words, Shayla has feelings about herself as a Muslim when
Keiera depicted that she and her brothers looked like someone who might be a terrorist. I do not think that Shayla meant for Keiera to learn about her religion and that her personal traits are based on her religion, and that her comment was not about DNA. She felt that Keiera was not knowledgeable to equal to her, and that is where Blacks lose it when they become brain washed about how to think or apply empirical learning, actively experiencing, and book learning.

Hi, I just watched the show on racism. It made me furious! To think that people still feel that way in these times is unacceptable! The woman you had on who thought all black people were on welfare and in gangs....please...could you find anyone more ignorant! I would hope that the average white person, would find her offensive! I know there are wackos out there who probably agree with her, but you could have had on someone who was more middle of the road. I can't believe you had her on twice! she was so ignorant and obnoxious, I had to turn the show off. what an embarasment she was to her race! Otherwise I enjoyed the show, I'm a white woman, who totally is against racism. It enrages me to see people acting that way to oneanother. Thanks for your tine...Lori

Hey Tyra girl!

I just wanted to comment on something that I saw on Top Model last week. There was a girl on there (forgot her name but she has short hair)who had to kiss a man who said he didn't like "Black" girls. When she told you about it and you seemed kind of suprised or offended, but yet you told her to kiss him anyway, even though she obiviously didn't want to. To me personally, I thought that was wrong. If it were YOU that was told to kiss a man that said he didn't like "Black" girls, you more than likely wouldn't have done it.

Hey Tyra,

I think all white people get a bad rep and for what?? People hundreds of years ago had slaves. I think it is important that people remember that only some "white people" had slaves and treated "black people" wrong...hence the civil war. I did nothing wrong, I have no problems with a person of any race, including my own. I have a problem with people that call names and that is why I am writing. I would never say any racial slur or comment. So in return I do not expect to be called a "cracker" or "white trash." I have done nothing for people to treat me that way and neither have others. In this country we need to recognize that there are bad people in all races, but that does not make up the whole.

Tyra,
I would not say that I am a racist. The only group of people that I am intolerant of are ignorant people who choose to remain so. It does not matter to me whether they are black or white or hispanic, etc. I think here in America everyone has an opportunity to be successful. We are blessed with a government that offers programs of assistance to those who need it. I, myself have taken advantage of some of those programs. However, I did not stay on them. When I had my first child, I needed financial assistance with healthcare costs. I was an uninsured college student, and could not afford to pay for the healthcare I would need. I enrolled in a government program that helped me through a very difficult time. Later, I enrolled in another program that allowed me to go back to school and work. My childcare was payed for by this program. After just a short while, I was able to get off all the aid programs and stand on my own two feet. My point in saying this is that I do not feel any hatred or even dislike toward any race. I don't dislike people on government assistance. However, I have a problem with those who take advantage of the system. No one should consistently stay on welfare. No one should live off the unemployment system. This is America. Get off your duffs and make things happen. Get help if you need it, but don't stay down. There's no excuse. With the abundance of college grants and loans, there is no reason for a person to remain ignorant or unemployed. Do not live off the system. That is not what it is there for. Opportunites abound in this great country if a person is not too lazy to do some work.

Hey Tyra
Im 14 years old and i have friends of all different races.I am white and I have only dated white and hispanic guys and when i was with the hispanic guys his friend would say things like he was my slave and i owned him and that really hurts but what hurt worse was that he didnt stand up for me but it is over with him.I have grown up with a racist dad and grandmother but when i was little i decided not to be like them and i now have friends of all races.i remember one day when i was little I went with my grandmother to her bank and since she grew up in segregation she is the way she is but when we went into the bank she looked around and said these black people need their own bank and that upset me so much because i was young and didnt know the difference and i thought people were people.I want to help stop racism and i am trying to get my family to stop being that way i even have gotten into a fight with my dad about who i can date and marry.And my mother says if everyone were blind how could we be able to tell we were different colors? well we couldnt and we only would know we are people and that makes me sick that people would be like that.
thank you for listening

Hi Tyra,

Racism is something that I have never understood. I was born on PEI in Canada but I grew up for the most part in Toronto. I had friends of all types. When we moved back to PEI when Iwas 11 or 12 and a African-Canadian wanted to move into a small town in PEI and people were actually taking a petition around to stop them from moving into the town and that really blew me away because of growing up in Toronto and I didn't see color and people here wouldn't believe that. They told me "they" were different. When I asked how they said they were different because their skin was a different color then theirs and I asked what does that matter they are people the same as you. During that time I lost alot of friends or at least I thought they were friends but obviously they weren't friends that I really didn't want to have.

Thank you
Flo
from little ole PEI

Hey Tyra,
I must say that responding to a talk show is something I have never done before, but after seeing your show on racism I had to comment. I truly commend you for putting on such a controversial show. It's one thing to talk about what people go through, but to actually show what people go through can be such an eye and mind opener. I must admit, however, that I was a little upset about a couple of things. Throughout the show I was looking forward to you having biracial guests and by the end of the show I was elated to see the twin girls but their lives were not capsized as much as the others. I was disappointed in this. I am an interracial child. My mother is Mexican and Native American and my father is a Black American. I was hoping that maybe you would talk about how biracial and interracial people find it hard to "fit in" with others. Being who I am, I have truly been affected by the fact that I am not accepted my my Meican race because they see the black in me and I am not accepted (more appropriately despised) by my black race because of my light skin and wavy hair. I am not black enough in their eyes. It hurts to write this because it makes me think of all the things people have said and done to me. Even within my own family. Maybe this is for another show, but this is strong racism in my eyes. So strong in fact that it has led me to depression and even attempted suicide. How can one know exactly who they are if so much racism pushes them to be what others want them to be just so they can be and feel accepted. There are so many people (children especially) that are having a hard time with this. It would really be nice to hear your comments about this. Unfortunately, I still have not gotten over this issue, but maybe you can shed some light. Thank you for your patience.

This is the ultimite honest answer! When I feel the time is right and appropiate. I will ask an Afro. American if they will forgive my ansesters for hurting your's so bad. I will give them a hug, And pray I did the right thing. I make it a point to always have a smile on my face when catching an eye with a A.A. I will make it a point to say Hi to that person. Also I find myself always smileing at a heavy person and saying hello as well! that's the way I am And I'm greatful I know what that means to a person differant from me. I also was fat at one time, And remember the pain of the looks I'd get or a comment! So that's me And I don't want that to ever change! Thank you for letting me share with you!
God bless all, Jamie
PS. Tyra you are a beautiful black woman, And a beautiful Heart to boot!:)

No matter how bad we want racism to end it will never end because of these insecure people in this world.I don't understand how you can not like somebody just because the color of their skin.I guess their minds not mature enough to take the time out and get to know one another.You suppose to love one another and help one another because we all are God children wheter we like it or not. I just want ever racism person to know God is looking down on them he sees and hear everthing.

i salute u tyra for giving ur viewers the chance to feel how racism could actually affect people in general...whether they are the one who racist or victim of it.....it is timely for the world to realise how we are being judgemental about the creation of God which is human beings...we are all equal in the eyes of God...so let us not treat ourselves higher than others.....certainly ur such a great girl tyra...the muslims are just one of the many races who are being victimized badly by this so called racism....God is Great, and he is Fair to everyone...God loves us all....we must not forget about our nature as mere creation of God!!! So we must love God's creations in general...not only love what is best for us..and what is pleasant to us....peace!!!

Racism will never go away. There are plenty of things, us as citizens, can do to help slow it down. I believe in loving everybody no matter what there skin clor or religion is. God made us exactly ow he wanted us to be and for a reason. So, I feel how we can help it stop is we need to love ourselves, and love on and other.

YOU CAN HELP RACISM BY TAKING EVERYONE AS AN INDIVIDUAL. THE WORLD IS FULL OF GOOD, BAD, AND IN BETWEENERS. YOU CAN CHOOSE TO SURROUND YOURSELF BY POSITIVE ENERGY BY MAKING SURE THAT THOSE YOU SHARE YOUR TIME WITH ARE POSITIVE AS WELL. ANOTHER WAY TO END RACSIM IS TO JUST GIVE PEOPLE A CHANCE (THIS APPLIES OR ANY SITUATION). TRY TO GET PAST TOUGH EXTERIORS, EXTEND YOUR HAND AS A FRIEND, MAKE YOURSELF GET TO KNOW PEOPLE, AND ONCE YOU GET OVER THAT BRIDGE YOU WILL BE SURPRISED AND GLAD THAT YOU HAVE, THE WORLD IS FULL OF MANY BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE, PLACES, AND THINGS, LETS NOT BE IGNORANT, LETS LEARN AND BE WORLDLY AND LOVE.

I am 22yrs and I was not around when all the apartheid was going around. In South Africa, there was was a lot of racism but look at us now, we are one united country. It makes me happy to have such a rich history because we'll have some thing to teach our children. We look at each other as people not just black and white.

stop all this crazy racism!! im a new zealand girl, my mother is white and my father is maori, interacial realationships isnt against the norm here but racism is still around. all colours are beautiful and we are ALL lucky that we have the privlage to see them.

tyra for any reason i think you are racist your self in the show you were defending black people more than any body and i understand because ur black but in this case you should host the show and not defend any body what happend between blacks and whites thats history now black people do what ever they want they are everywhere , loud, and always wanna cause problems you can even say anything 2 them or else they'll get all crazy with you .dont get me wrong im really sorry for what happend to the black people back in the days I DONT AGREE WITH THAT BUT IT DOESNT HAPPEN ANY MORE THEY ARE NOT SLAVES ANYMORE .AND THEY COMPLAIN THAT THEY WERE BROUGHT HERE ...THEY CAN ALWAYS LEAVE GO BACK TO AFRICA , JAMAICA. OR TO THE JUNGLE IF THEY WANT PEOPLE SHOULD STOP BEEN BITCHES AND STOP TRYING 2 GET PEOPLE 2 FEEL SORRY FOR THEM GET SOME EDUCACION , GET JOBS , BE SOME ONE STOP QUITTING SCHOOL DRESS BETTER TALK BETTER SO PEOPLE CAN TREAT YOU WITH RESPECT AND DONT BE AFFRAID OF YOU OR PUT YOU DOWN. IM LATINA AND PLEOPLE GIVES US SHIT 2 BE WE ARE STRONG WE LEARN A LANGUAGE , WE GO TO SCHOOL DRESS BETTER WORK A FULL TIME JOB OR MAYBE 2 JOBS AND ALL THAT IS TO BE BETTER TO GIVE THOSE PEOPLE A SLAP IN THE FACE WHEN THEY SEE THAT WORDS DONT PUT US DOWN WE WORK FOR WHAT WE HAVE AND WANT NOT SIT AND CRY OR FEEL SORRY FOR OURSELVES.

I wanted to say something about a recent repeat of a show i saw. It was the one on racism that had Kevin Aviance (his story mad me cry) and Shirley from The Westboro Baptist Church. I just wanted to say i saw this one after the recent funeral of a soldier from my home town that had died in Iraq. His funeral was at a church in the center of town and we pull up and there are the members froe the westboro baptist church picketing. It was disgusting we were trying to grieve and say goodbye to a son, a brother, a friend, and a hero and they were ruining it for everyone. we just wanted peace and they wouldnt let that happen. but maybe with the show you did people out there will see what is going on and change something. i want to say thank you for being brave enough to talk about the tough subjects and being willing to stand up for what you think and believe. You are truly a role model for everyone. THANK YOU!!!

This is the show aired on 10/27/06; hate crime on Gays. Shirley was talking that they were followers of GOD. Boy, I would be scared to think that when you have given your life to GOD, you have such hate in you. Yes, GOD has a wrath. But that is why he sent his son to die for us. To be forgiven for our sins. There is HOPE for us all. Of course, don't wait to long. But who are we to judge them. For that belongs to GOD. This three people were so judgmental and hateful. Jesus said to teach the word of GOD; follow his commandments,etc and Jesus said to love one another. This I command you. You don't have to accept them, dont hate them. GOD is merciful and compassion. Maybe one day there will be change, maybe not. It is not for us to judge or hate.But show the love that the Holy Word has for us all. We receive it or not. What i dont want to watch I won't. I see some things and say "Lord". Boy or Boy.But I don't hate.That is a sin!

Hi Tyra my name is BobbiJo Eason I am in a interracial relationship and have three beautiful boys.My husband is african-american and I am white. I watched your show on racism and it made me sick. One thing I can't believe is there is still so much racism in the world and alot of children being born today are mixed some kind of way. We all need to accept eachother for who we are and not what we look like.Our hearts beet the same and we all bleed the same color.I really wish I was at your show that day so I could speak my opinion and cuss them all out. It makes no sense and really makes me angry.

Tyra, I am white and my boyfriend is black. I have many family members in relationships with diffrent races and i never considered it a problem. But about 3 years ago when i started my boyfriend i realized alot of racism. My boyfriends mom had told him that he needed to date a black girl because all those white girls just want to have sex. Then when we are together people not only stare they also make hurtful comments. I was once kissing my boyfriend goodbey when a group of black girls drove by and yelled out the window why are you kissing that white girl. The socitey is so hurtful and indenial.Race issues are still around and it is crazy i thought this was all settled years ago in the civil war. Why is it that we cant all be the same our color shouldnt make us diffrent and your show helped me very much to just now that it is not just me

hey tyra
i am hispanic and i have a black boyfriend and when people stare...instead of getting offended...i think its pretty cool. :)

Racism...it has impacted so many people that I know. I've seen it happen to people, all around me and I always think to myself what can I do, to help stop this problem that the world cannot overcome. I know that I am only 17; probably you're average teenager, but when it comes to racism, it digs deep into me. I can say that i've experienced racism first hand because it has happened before. I was walking home with my sister, and this car full of white males, around the ages of 17-20 yelled racist things out the window. It embrassed me and my sister, and frightened us. We didn't know what was going to happen, luckly there was another car behind them and forced them to go forward. I felt lost, embrassed, enraged that they did such a thing. That is the one moment that i will never forget. That incident has made me realize that I have to help do something about it. I just cannot ignore a problem so big that has impacted me personally, and my friends that surround me. Now, when I see things like that, when people say racist comments about others, I step in. I don't think about the dangers, because I rather myself get hurt then the other person. I know that, helping another person out makes a whole difference not only in my life but theirs as well. People helping People can change the world. Ten years from now, if more people helped others out, when friends said racist comments the world would be a better place to be. I know that racism will never stop, but just preventing it from happening to the people close to you can make such a big difference. Eventually it will spread out and who knows maybe some day, just maybe the world will over come this world known problem, and try to solve another!

I seem to be the only person around me that looks like me {Canadian with brown sugar skin tone coming from my Jamacian father & my Irish mother}. My thoughts are the negative from both sides. If I hear "What are you?" one more time = it makes me feel so insignificant! Where I grew up, I was the only person with different skin tone in so many communities around & when I first met a person of darker skin than even my own I was so excited & she too shun me away. Talk about isolated. Ppl talk about the neg. of "minorities" but even they usually include a few ppl. I'm so tired of smiling @ ppl for them just to look the other way or make faces @ me.

Hey tyra!
I remember watching this show, i love how u did this, i am against racism 100%, i dont understand what people have against other races, to me it doesnt make any sense. I am white and part native american, alot of ppl will call me half breed, nish, red skin, or wagon burner. Its hurts me, cus its beein closed minded, even one of my teachers called me a red skin, i look more white then native, but when someone finds out that im part native thats when they start callin me names. I also have another problem, my boyfriend is black, and alot of my family is racist, my uncles and aunts on my fathers side, i brought him to a wedding knowing they were racist just to open there minds a little more, i hafto tell u, it worked, they didnt know he was black but when they saw him they looked shocked but still introduced themselves to him and saw he was a nice guy, some of them still have the same mentality but its nothing i can do. One of my best friends told me that interacial dating isnt right, i honestly dont talk to her, and when i hear racial comments about any races i give a speach, even if its not my race i still say something about it. What should i do about poeple callin me names??

I am from Caracas Venezuela living in The Bahamas.

In the case of USA, I believe Americans should end addressing nationality as "African America" "Asian America" and so on. Why just all people born in USA or people who have become a US citizen just answer when ask Your Nationality? Response: American. Just one word, you are American no matter if you are white, black, Asian, Latin, you are simply, American. Why carry a tag to the American.

Another issue, end commercials and advertisings that uses black couples, white couples, Asian couples, why not all mix. A black and a white couple. I cannot stand to see a hotel brochure showing for example a white couple, a black couple, an asian couple, on vacation or or whatever the promotion is about. Why not show a black and white couple expressing their love enjoying a vacation some place.

The "tags" need to go.

Regards,

Patricia

Hi Trya,

Iam a black male, i live in cleveland ohio, where there is a lot of racism and i choose to date out side of my race, as i was whaching one of your shows about interracial dating,it hit me that i was in one of those sterio types you know... cause my girl friend now is a white girl, and i get a lo o crap from people.. i just graduated from high scholl and going to college and my girl friend and i are going to he same college.And the worst thing i been happend to me on prom night and we had to leave because i went to an all black school and the students where raging on her, and i just anted to kow how to overcome the snears and comments that people say to us as we walk down the streat like we cant even do that without people staring and putting there comments in so i was wondering if you can help me out with that thank you

Dear Tyra, I would like to comment on your show highlighting interracial relationships.

First of all, a few things about me. I am a full-blooded Native American woman, who was adopted by a white family at a very young age, and raised in an all-White community. While I encountered prejudice from various factions throughout my childhood years, and though I'm not condoning such behavior, that isn't the focus of this commentary.

My first experience with another Native came eleven yrs. ago. In the community where I grew up, I began a multi-racial support group. The white people that attended, showed up expecting me to teach them beadwork and basket-weaving (which I actually thought was kind of funny). Unfortunately, the sole Native person who showed up ended up turning the session into a white-bashing rant, highly offending my other all-white attendees. The group dispersed shortly thereafter.

Then, about 7 years ago, shortly after finding my birth family, I relocated to a predominantly Native community, when I accepted a position there, working for the tribe. All my life I had heard various stereotypes concerning Native Americans-i.e. Natives are lazy, alcoholics with loose morals and looser mouths- and thought "It can't be that bad. Surely, those things can't be true". I was deeply saddened to find that, in my experience, too many Natives' behavior ties right in with those stereotypes. I was also deeply disturbed and shocked at the level of predjudiced shown toward ME.

I have been thrown out of a Native-based establishment because I mentioned that my oldest child is half-white-"How dare (I) dilute the bloodlines. What, a Native man not good enough for (me)?!". I was ignored out of a Native-American chat room, due to the fact that I didn't know the difference between an "Urban-Native" and a "Rez-Native" and that I enjoyed theater and opera.I was coerced into leaving a job I enjoyed because I "acted too White".- Note: Apparently, it's okay for a white person to "act White:, and a Native person to "act Native", but it's not okay for a Native person to "act White". I have been referred to as a "Whitey-lover" and an "apple" (red on the outside, white on the inside).

Then to top it off, you not only have to be Native, you have to have been raised Native, be the right tribe (Menominees don't like Oneidas. Oneidas don't like Potowatomis. Potowatomis don't like Chippewas. Etc., etc., etc.), and be the right family, in the right tribe. It gets positively ridiculous.

Frankly, so many of my experiences with Natives who have grown up with ties to the Native community, have been so negative, the thought of dating a Native American man has become quite distasteful. Even if I could find a Native gentleman I was attracted too, it would be difficult to find one who's family would accept me for having a predominantly "White" person's interests and viewpoints. Growing up, I never thought that not only would I experience and observe more predjudice from Natives than Whites, but that I would find myself actively disliking my own people. Honestly, I don't know whether to be more disgusting with the Native community in general, or with myself for feeling this way. Either way, my head is hung in shame.

The biggest irony, is that many of the white people I have encountered welcome and embrace traditional Native culture (traditional dance, sweat lodge ceremonies, etc.) in their day-to-day lives, and are willing to learn more about it, even though they are often rebuffed and actively castigated by the very people they seek out and accept with open arms.

Sincerely,

Robyn B., Green Bay, Wi

Hey Tyra,
I really related with todays show. I am a hispanic woman living in Cincinnati, Ohio. (very bad city when it comes to race issues) For the past 8 years or longer I have dated nothing but black males. All my friends and family know 'black males' are who I perfer. My father is very racist and that has ALWAYS made it hard for me. My mother says she isn't but sometimes she makes 'comments' that come off as racial. I don't care what any one says I love my men no matter the skin. I have dated white males but none were 'long' relationships. So I'm not against dating a certain race or 'my own'. I'm just more attracted to black males. My dad asked me one day why that is and I told him because they seem more like me and I feel more comfortable with them. I'm a friendly person and black males tend to be as well. I get approached by black males more than any other race. My little sister says it's the same way for her. She feels white guys aren't attracted to hispanic woman. I kinda agree with her.

One of my exes, Jayshan, and I would go around and count interracial couples. I always thought that was cute. One time him and I were driving through Over the Rhine, a rough neighborhood, when a black male stopped us and said "Yo my brother, I wouldn't continue driving around here cuz I don't want to see that girl of yours get hurt!" Cincinnati is a hard place to live in. I moved out of here and went to New York for a few months and I loved it. No drama. No weird looks. No bad talking. Just people enjoying each other. I was sad to move back to Cincinnati.

A few years back I was at a protest of blacks towards the racism in Cincy. I went up there with Jayshan and a black woman stopped us and asked why Jay was with a 'white woman' he replyed with "Aren't u trying to STOP the racism?!" I wish every one could see past skin color and just be happy.

I recentlly started dating a white male and all my friends and family are shocked. It kinda hurts that they have that reaction. As for the guy, well on my myspace profile he put "Sorry fellas but I broke her fever." I was rather upset he wrote that. It seems like no matter what people always gotta say something.

Tyra,
I'ld love for the racism to STOP! I'll help you however you want to get people to see others as one, not in "certain catagories" or "skin tones". Thank you for doing a show on this topic....

hey tyra my name is Tiffany and i'm a white girl that has a beautiful mixed little boy. and I see nothing wrong with inter-racial relationships! I believe we all bleed the same color and were all made by the same person so we are all the same no matter what color we are! so I really don't see the problem with it! but I know alot of black people don't like white people cause of slavery but that was in the past and white people today can't help what went on in the past! but all I know I love black men and im sorry if that hurts anybody's feelings but it's the truth!

hi Tyra,
i am so glad you did a show about racism.i myself am a white girl and my boyfriend is black.i am only 18 year old and in the past year i told my parents and family that i was involed with him. well since most of my family is racist they stopped talking to me. then i became pregnant and sadly lost the baby. it showed my family that that they really couldnt judge people by their color becuase the little time our daughter was here she touched the lives of so many and just becuase she was mixed only made her more beautiful

Miss Tyra
My husband and I were watching a show you had on where your friend was attacked for being gay. And to be honest it broke my heart. Then I saw your guest for that show where a mother was teaching her children to hate "fags" as she would call them, but the correct word is gay people. Now I agree that God doesnt like the act that gay people do. But I know that God loves all gay people. Because they are people and we all know He created them as well as us. We are no different from them. As a matter of fact we need to stop seperating ourselves as though they are another spiecies all together. (Hope I spelled that word correctly.) There is something that God would like all of us to change. We will not always agree on everything in this world. I have many relatives who are gay. I will not live the life style that they do. But I will always love them dearly. I recently lost an uncle who was gay.(and not from aids.) He was more like a brother to me and I was more like a sister to him. I am not walking right myself with God, but I was at one time. And I thought God said to hate the act not the person. If hateing the person was what He wanted. He too would have thrown a stone or two at the prositute and not saved her. Please tell your friend. I'll be praying for him. signed p.d.

I wonder when the world will fully be extinguished from racism. I wish I was there.

Tyra, I am a 14-year-old african american girl. I sometimes I wish I was another race because blacks are the lowest people. I mean, an asian for example would rather marry a hispanic than a black. We are the ones that are the lowest in society. It makes me really pissed off.

I also get angry a lot because my best friend's (who is an asian) parents don't like me. They think I am a "bad influence" just because I'm black. Do you realize how much that hurts me? I just wish all the time now, that I can be another race.

Also. What happened to our black pride? Remember the afros? Why don't we blacks
show our afros. I feel african-americans are in denial. I mean, like you said on America's Next Top Model,"I'm a slave in this hair!"

It's true. Why do we have weave? Be proud of your heritage.

UHHH! Tyra. I seriously think African-American's are in denial!

Tyra: Just during the introduction of your show about Mr. Aviance, I did notice that you did not give any clips showing blacks brutally attacking and killing whites. While your show is dealing with an issue of the UTMOST IMPORTANCE, you anger the most affected popuolation. Whites. I hate to say this but it's a fact. White people are attacked, robbed, raped, killed, etc.... stop ignoring this issue and you will see that the white population does care. Keep ignoring statistics and nothing gets done to stop this horrible of most horrible of human traits. I believe we can all learn to get along but we must all see through the same eyes... not black, not gay, not white, not muslim... BUT HUMAN..

I don't have a problem with inter-racial relationships because it doesn't matter to me what race you are. I can be friends with everyone :)

Being from a white mother and black father i have been raised in a very open mind set. After watching this show i realize maybe i am not so much racist but just a product of my envoirment. When people look at me they see a black girl so i have always identifed with myself as being black but the older i got i realized i do not fit in with either crowd because when i am with my "white friends" i am considered the loud ghetto black girl but when im with my " black friends" i am consiered the white girl and i know for a fact i the same person with each group so i feel i really do not fit in. I have been really torn since watching this show in that when i see a black man with a white woman it makes me upset I know i have said "why he with a white girl" because in the black community white girls are not looked upon with favor. I know this is wrong in that i am part "white girl" and my mom was one of those white girls taking all the black men but the enviorment i was raised in teaches me that i should be accepting of all people and realtionships but i am not .....So Am I a Racist to my own kind? I do not feel this way but am i looked upon this way?

Tyra, I saw your show on interracial relationships, I am in interracial relationship my boyfriend is African American and I am a latina when we are places we get looks but not to bad.We just had a son, there is so much drama because my son is on the lighter side me being latina ,so there are the haters that start say that he is not the father,as you know that babies change so much in that first month. I also have three daughters from a pervious relationship that everyone that I worked with all want to see my son because they thought he was going to be dark and what was I going to do,like that would be a bad thing. It is VERY SAD that it is such a BIG deal to other people who you fall in love with ,to bad they cann't be HAPPY for you.We both don't let any of that get to us ,it is funny to us that people even give a shit.As you people for some reason will NEVER let RACISM GO AWAY. We just have to TEACH our children NOT to HATE anyone because of the way they LOOK.

Hi, Miss Banks,My name is Sgt Howell. I am an disabled veteran.I attend the Miami VA,I go 2 to 3 x per week,for therophy.I am disabled ,and I ride in a wheelchair.Its pretty evident that I am a African/American Asian,Native/American,but never mind I am black,and I think that there's a hate crime,A hate crime that I don't know why its going on but it dose,I make the total limit on disability(100%)but my mom is my fudury.She is in her 70's.I can't really talk but I know exacally what is going on around me.www.paypal.com and VueVisaCreditcard.com there debit division,is trying to screw me big time,there is someone who has taken almost $10000 dollars from my account and I swear that I didn't know it,they are taking the money out of my account.Why is that so ? I can't even buy any presents for x-mas.I can't even buy plain old staples. How will I survive.Again I can't speck very well so I am limited to a computer(Hewlett-Packard Pavilion).And I was supposed to have purchased a computer for $3000 dollars.www.SonyVaio.com
www.Omegamove.com
www.42inchplasma
www.Nextag.com
www.USPhones.com
www.Sales@t-moble
About 3 other stites,and about 2 different overseas sites,and I don't even have a passport.What am I supposed to do if everybody turns there back on me ?

Dear Tyra,
I recently caught the re-cap of your show about interracial couples and was very disturbed by peoples comments. Being in an interracial marriage myself, it was very interesting to see how people really view the situation. Being a white woman married to a black man, we would usually get the looks or remarks from the black women and after seven years we are still dealing with the same ignorance! I've had people ask me why I dated black men and not white men. But with me it's not about a matter of preference. I have dated white men, it's just that it's usually the black men or hispanic men that approach me or are interested in me and it's been that way my whole life. I would date any body (before I was married of course) of any nationality as long as they treated me like I am supposed to be treated, like a WOMAN! My husband and I have children and it breaks my heart to think that people would treat them differently because of the color of their skin. But you are right, racism may not be as aparent in plain site but it most certainly still exists in this day in age. The last thing I want to say to all the people out there is put yourself in their shoes and see how it would feel! RACISM IS JUST SHOWING YOUR IGNORANCE!

Sincerely,
Heidi Langston Ohio
Heidi

I myself have been tossed in the ring with 1st hand racism , here in Boston during the forced bussing era of "74", There are issues that have been overcomed , to think that it will just dissappear is an illusion , as long as minds stay close to what they dont know , they will always fear it . most of all prejudgedice stems from the unknown, if they have no contact with the other , the excuse will lead to hate , it's not brain surgery , I believe if it's not put out in the proper way all it will do keep branching somehow it has to be nipped in the bud then and only then can it be wheened out of society , slowly but surely , but patience is a virtue ,,,,,,,,, Teach the children via video, media , voice of the people any way they can be reached , so they dont have to live in a world looking over their shoulders as we did . nuff said

I does annoy me how racism still exists. People need to stop acting immature and accept everyone, no matter what their color is. I am a 13 yr. old African American (I heard that we have Cuban and Bahamian blood). In the black race, it also annoys me how dark-complexioned and light-complexioned people argue. I am light-complexioned and it annoys me how people automacially think that I am half white. Sometime ago in my Spanish class, students were handing out graded papers, and this one black girl was calling out my name (which is Jessica). And when I raised my hand, she she said, "Oh. No offense, but I was looking for a white girl." I laughed it off, but its upsetting when someone mistakes me or my name for white. Also, I have heard many times that I talk "white" or "proper". Just because I say not speak like A FEW black people, it doesn't mean that I want to be white. My family and I get mistaken for a lot of things. My sisters sometimes tease me for liking some pop songs. I like all kinds of music. And I also like people from my, and other races. I'm just an individual, don't hate me for that.
Sometimes, my mother and sisters and I feel stares from other black females, and I sometimes wonder if it's because we don't look like others. And also, light-complexioned can be mean to dark-complexioned people. It's so mean.
One last thing that I would like to bring up is why are some black people being watched in stores and in public? I heard stories of how people felt they were being followed in stores, and that happened to me also. And one last thing. Why do people think that if they see an African American person walking down the street, they think that that person wants to start trouble? Those people have thing to do and just don't want to hurt anyone. Sorry for my long letter.

rasizum is WRONG like on the buss this driver was a mexican driver she but me and my friends in the front of the bus and all her mexican pepole in the bak that was WRONG and I sead to her really loud that that was not wrighet and no that I know that she dose that next time she sase sit in the front imma sit in the back

Hi tyra - i just wanted to say that i understand why you did these shows. But why didn't you but Native Americans or even white ppl from another country (jews, ext.) to see how they feel?
I really think America is the only country that looks at color more then the person.
for the mixed dating show i could relate. i went to a college that would not let me date white men because i was 'to dark' for them. it was funny because the Hispanic girls could date whoever they wanted. i was told because i was dark like a blk person (i'm Indian) then i have to date them, and they tried to set me up with them. i'm just not attracted to them that's all. i've always been more attracted to white guys, and i have so much more in common with them.
I'm now with a guy from Guadamala, but he looks white (blue eyes light brown hair) and i still get more looks from the african american ppl then i do my own. i dont know why but i have to explain to them what i am. I've even had my hair pulled by a black girl. then they see that we have a son together and i get even more bad looks.
you were right. it's funny how blk men can date a white girl but when i blk woman dates a white guy she's hating herself. i feel sorry for those girls; i know what they are going through. but i also get the blunt of hate from them too.
I guess it's always a double standered and it's never going to change.

Till you become President!!! lol

Dear Tyra,

On the issue of which race has it the worst, I think it is the NATIVE AMERICANS. They are a group whose persecution is equal if not exceeding those of African-americans.

The fact that they were not featured on your show seems to validate the fact that they have it worse than the races that were represented simply because the NATIVE AMERICANS HAVE BEEN FORGOTEN.

Hi, I just wanted to say that racism and hatred, proves how ignorant people are! I think the people that are racist, and full of hate, aren't to happy with their lives, so they have nothing better to do then to hate someone because of there sexual preference, or ethnicity. Obviously it was all part of Gods plan, otherwise the world wouldn't be the way it is today. So, with that said, all you racist and hatefull people, should take a look at your own lives, "try" to figure out what makes you think you are better then everyone else, and seriously get over it, because you are no better then everyone else!!! Great topic Tyra!!

i just saw youre episode on the familly that hated gay people. i dont condone them in the least bit. my best friend is a transexual actually but the way you attaked them was discousting to me. you were so intent on making them seem like they were in the wrong and what they were doing was evil. i would love to think youre a little more open minded as to lrespect people enough to let them talk or finish their statements before you rush in dissrespectfully trying to get only your point across. if you dont agree with what they do or believe in why put them on your show?? to put them down and try to make your self seem like a better person??? i think you went about it all wrong and you gave them absolutely no respect. just because they dont believe in what you do dosent make them wrong!!!!! stop being so close minded!!! now like i said before i dont share their beliefs in the least but i am grown enough to respect them.how you treated them was wrong and you should be ashamed!!!!!!

I saw your show on racism. I did not agree with how the lady was handling the situations. It showed hatred towards her also by what she believed so to me there was no difference between you and her. You showed just as much hate as she did. Jesus does not agree with any sin non greater but he loves the individual and died just to help them overcome. No person can overcome on there own on anything you have to have Jesus to HELP you. The only way to end racism is to get with the individual and share Jesus's love for them and others. You had more people on your show to believe what you were saying and not enough people to challenge her in a better way in what she believed and challenge you in your belief at all. So future get some loving Christ like people like Paula White whom you have had on before and ask her about what you believe concerning sin in general or TD Jakes or Bishop Eddie Long.

Love you in Christ praying for you

I live in Kansas and most folks are not like them that was on your show today. I think they are horrible to do the things they do, like protest at military funerals, and to believe that 3 of their children have worked for the state of Kansas is a disgrace to this state. There was a whole page and half in the Wichita Eagle about these people a few months ago, the only one person that is normal in that family is the 1 sibiling that has nothing to do with them. We all have a judgement day and we all know where folks like them are going. And to think they were going to go protest at them young Amish girls funerals this last week is horrible.That have no business protesting any type of funeral no matter what a person believes in. Thank God for our fine women and men with the Patriot Guard that go to funerals to protect the family from seeing folks like them. These type of folks have no ideal what respect is that is for sure.

What about black people who are racists? Nobody wishes to speak about that for some reason. Tyra chose not to cover that on her show today for whatever reason.

when i watched this show i was astounded by how many people have "ideas" about certain races?! i thought it was completely unfair. i never have thought of a person who was wearing a turban to be a "terrorist",
this could also stem from americas media that allows this idea to become so projected. i think people need to understand that...the color of your skin does not detail who you are, its what is in your heart and mind that matters the most.

This bitch on the show sayiing thank god for all the bad things is terrible. She is giving KS people a bad nam. I want all of the world out there to know that that is NOT what Kansas is about. These people are TRIPPIN'. And her daughters, are even WORSE. I hope they grow up from this belief they are being taught. I can't believe this. Everytime I see someone from KS especially the small town, they are always cookoo and racist. They make the rest of Kansas look horrible. I hope y'all know Kansas folks are not at all like these people that are trying to represent us. THANKS.

HEY TYRA,
I BELIEVE NO MATTER WHERE YOU COME FROM OR WHAT COLOR YOU ARE EVERY INDIVIDUAL IS THE SAME.COLOR SHOULD NOT MAKE A DIFFERENCE.EVERY PERSON IS A BEAUTIFUL PART OF LIFE NO MATTER WHAT ANYBODY SAYS OR THINKS ABOUT YOU.THIS IS FOR EVERYBODY OUT THERE WHO READS THIS AN IS IN THIS SITUATION, YOU ARE A BEAUTIFUL PERSON NO MATTER WHAT ANYBODY TELLS YOU,DON'T LET NOBODY BRING YOU DOWN IN LIFE.YOU ARE WHO YOU ARE AND THATS A BEAUTIFUL THING.DONT WORRY ABOUT WHAT ANYBODY THINKS OF YOU,JUST DO WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO IN LIFE, AND DO WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY!AS LONG AS YOU KNOW YOUR SOMEBODY SPECIAL DONT LET NOBODY BRING YOU DOWN!!!!
I HOPE SOME PEOPLE WHO ARE IN THIS SITUATION TAKE THIS INTO CONCEDERATION , YOU ARE A SPECIAL PERSON DEEP DOWN INSIDE NO MATTER WHAT!!
ALSO YOU GO TYRA GIRL!!!!

Tyra,
I can not believe you had those folks on your show today from the Westboro Baptist Church. It sickened me to see that you gave them a forum to spread their hate even more. Being a gay man I of course know who they are and all about the hate they preach! It is hard for me to believe that a christian can hate and judge people the way they do. They obviously have not read the entire bible if they are going to sit on that stage and judge people. It also angered me to hear her say that my parents raised me incorrectly or of the devil. Well, I was raised in a christian home and was taught to love everyone and not judge others. Unfortunately, their church is not the only church that believes gay people are going to hell, a lot of main line denominations believe the same thing but are not as verbal (publicly anyway). I really wish you could some how include the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitian Community Churches in a show to get the message out there that yes God loves everyone, including homosexuals. At our church we are inclusive of everyone! We go out of our way to make sure everyone feels comfortable and know that they are loved by God and us!

Tyra - I am watching today's show about hate and am outraged at the first guests. The mother and her daughters who have so much hate in their hearts yet claim to be christians. I am Baptist as well and do not have that hate. When you have people of a group on your show with such an extreme view, it would be more responsible to also have people of the same group with an opposing view so that the viewers do not group all Christians or Baptists in the same bubble as your guest with the extreme view. I grew up Catholic but am now Baptist. The only thing I agree with your guests on is that God says same sex relationships are wrong. HOWEVER, God also says to love EVERYONE regardless of their lifestyle. Jesus himself was friends, very close friends, with people who were living against God's will and He treated them with love and kindness and understanding. As a Christian, we need to duplicate this and not let our beliefs become judgements - that's God's responsibility. Our responsibility is to spread love, kindness, understanding, laughter, joy... The family you had your show today were not true Christians and shame on that woman for raising her children with such hate for other people. But they are adults now and need to pray and reexamine everything they've been taught, as difficult as it may be. Tyra, please don't let it go unspoken that all Christians do not believe the same as this woman so that your viewers do not generalize as people tend to do. Thank you for bringing such important issues to light on your show.

hey tyra i was rape when i was 16 it so hard to get over can u help me please?

love ya heaps kristy

Dear tyra, I had a tavern called the pine bar in wausau wisconsin, It was a resturant/bar until a smoking ban went threw and we had to close down the resturant part down or go all non smoking, so we made it all bar, we put in a dance floor and my daughter was the dj as of jan this year we started getting more busy,finally we were goinging to pay back some of the dept we were in,for a buildind we did not own we were only leaseing, we opened july 2004 , anyways back to the point, when we first opened all of our customers were older white people but when we put the dance floor in we started a few more yonger people white and african americans,so we starded going for more the younger crowd,and we played mostly R&B music on the weekends on our jutebox we had all kinds of music,country rock r&b blugrass whatever you wanted it was there,so everything was going as planned, we wre finally taking off, so we thought!its such a hard thing for me to tell anyone becouse no one will listen to me, so please bare with me if this letter gets long and drug out,our bar became mostly afican american,all the white girls that came in our bar had african american boyfriends,well to make a long story short wausau did not like this at all so we starded getting harassed nightly by the police they would sit in our parking lot nightly waiting to harass anyone of color not the white just the black people,they, the police would walk in our bar with bogis calls saying that there were calls of people fighting when there wasent, now let me tell you something i am 46 years old i have been with mike my boyfriend for 21 years, I have lived here in wausau since 1982 and i never had a black friend until i had my bar and now i am very proud to say i have alot of african american friends.But im not very proud of this town i live in nor did i no there was so much racism here, we were harrassed so bad that the city board pulled my lisence, and called me a public nuisance,and not at any time did we do anything wrong but becouse i did not have the 50,000 to fight this city i lost,i tried very hard to get all my new friends to speek up for themselfs but i have learned that most black people wont fight for there rights thay are very quiet, well im not tyra no matter what i have lost i will not live in such a cruel city or world these are my friends!!!! and no one can tell me who i can like or dislike. in the last couple of months i have been publicly humieated they put me on the news in the paper and not once did i defend my self but what could i say defend what? we did nothing wrong to defend.i let them destoy us becouse i did not have the money for a good attorney, the attorney i had took my 5,000 dollers made me promises he never kept and gave me a bill for 11,000 and he never had one hearing for me. I no i was rail roaded out of bussiness and if i could get a attorney to fight for me i have a good lawsuit, here but i am on the verge of loosing everything i have, i am trying to keep my head above water,i had 50,000 invested in that pine bar,and in a building that was not mine im trying right now to rent anotyer bar outside of town but they are scared the african americans are going to come out there, so they are giving me a rough time already i will not let them tell me what to do and becouse i wont play there game,and be what they want to be i might loose it all, but at least i will sleep at night!so please tyra give me some advice on what to do or where to go for help,I have notest that there is no african american police or fireman or attoneys here what is up with that????? i need your voice tyra please help.this town needs a big chang now!!!! now they the city is fighting to put out 2 other bars for the same crap!

Dear Tyra
I appreciate your open minded spirit.As a young mexican girl i have learn that theirs no superior true real color on earth simply because earth is made of different colors.As a human to other human beings no human is superior to other. no human owns other human. we as whole humans are one race jet we try to erase that by categorizing and judging.Here are some few reasons why we are all one human race under one sky one sun and one moon and shouldnt differ ourselfs just because of our color or religion or sex preference etc.
1)when children cry we all cry.
2)when nature hits us we all suffer.
3)we have hearts with a beat of drum, hands and feets that lead us to journeys beyond our fates.
Their are many more obvious reasons why we are more alike then apart.If we choose to love one another then will be more then just humans will be a human race connected by aneverending chain of love that conquers all hate,crime,war,hunger and evil .
As humans beings lets not wait for a disaster to unite us let love,peace and harmony in our our lives not for one but for all human beings.........

Dear Tyra and Staff,
I'm a Arfrican American and my boyfriend is Indian.We have been through some issues with his family beacause in their eyes they think he should be with a Indian.But he doesnt agree.He has told me a number of times that he is going to marry me.If his parents still dont see it,Oh well!He's happy and his parents should be for him.I just hope that one day people can look at a person's heart and not color of their skin...Look at it this way.Everyone on this Earth has the same color heart:)

Re:Monday, October 9, 2006
Focus on Race: Interracial Dating

As a person raised in a multicultural household, I found Monday's show fascinating. My mother was from Asia, my father was American Black. They marriedin the 50's when they were both in graduate school. While not always "easy," I've always felt fortunate be from a mixed family. There is always more than one way to look at a situation. I could relate to a lot of what was said on the show, I however there was too much whining. What ever choices one make in life, whether it's whom to date or what ever, one can't rely on the approval of others for validation. Do what you gotta do and world will have to live with it. As long as no one is hurting you or your loved ones physically or denying you opportunities, get over it. Focus on what makes you happy. Don't worry about anyone else or what they think. Especially strangers.

hi, Im 25 in a interracial relationship with a 18 month old bi-racial daughter.unfortinatly rascism is just as bad as it was 50 years ago it just kinda shifted to the asians and muslims, and the black racist just keep it under wraps until they see the approprite time to let the hate fly. I have been to resturants with my boyfriend {who is black and I am white} and the employees refuse to wait on us, and evently we leave this has happened 3 times in our 2 1/2 years we have been together, some may say thats not alot, but it should never ever happen. if people of all racies would open there eyes to the fact that you can learn alot from someone of another race. if we all get
together and learn from each other and grow rather than displaying how simple minded we can be with the hate we show our fellow neighbors and co-workers. I think before we see a big change in this country we need a president and a whole bunch of new congressional canidates of color with some real power to change the way americans think. most important hate starts at home, kids copy alot of things from there parents and of all the things in this world hate is the last thing we need to teach our kids!!

I am a 32 year old white female who has three young bi racial boys and I only hope that they find the support that I have when they decide to date whoever fills their heart with JOY! and LOVE! weither it be a boy or girl.....black,white,or yellow. I could care less as long as they are respected and Loved......
Peace be with any one who hates what OUR GOD created!

I haven't read all of these blogs, because they were starting to get on my nerves. All of you young people are so naive. You wish to world would just sing and have a coke. Well wake up children,it's not going to go away. I used to think like you, all races should messiginate, love each other. Now, I look at a person for who they are but when they speak it tells me further who they are. We all grew up with images and are influenced by what we see, before we think about it. Let me just say that I don't like to see black and white couples. That doesn't make me racist. It makes me prejudiced. I prefer my own kind. Walk a mile in somebody elses shoes before you make judgements. You wouldn't make them unless you were taught them. To dismiss racism just by saying "it's stupid" doesn't make it go away. You can't stop racism because it is institutionalized. It's woven into the fabric of this country, it built this country. My advice to you as individuals is to be proud of your heritage, treat each other with respect and tolerance, learn to think for yourself and not let someone else choose your enemy for you.
Peace

Hi, my name is Amanda and i have been watching your show alot! It's addicting. Well I am an 18 year old high school senior. I am an African american that is a Lesbian dating a white female. In this relationship, I have had many ups and downs with her racist mother. Her mother is also a lesbian but hates black people. I have always been nice to her and her girlfriend. One day my girlfriend's mother asked her how can she date a n**ger? My girlfriend didn't know what to say.I have been dating Jamie(my girlfriend) for 5 1/2 months now. Her mother still never changed. Her mother told her if she ever seen me again, she would hang me and blow my head off with a shot gun! My mother on the other hand, is a strong Christian who does not except my lesbian relationship with Jamie. My mother is a single parent and she is all i've got. I love Jamie with all my heart, and I can see our future ahead of us. I don't want to break Jamie and her mother's relationship. I don't know if I should end this relationship or continue to go on dodging her mother's threats?

Where did you find the bigots for your October 9th show on interracial dating? I'm a 46 yr old white woman and couldn't listen to most of these young judgmental hateful people. I can only hope that the couples on your show find happiness and have lots of children, and that the others somehow become sterile.

Hi Tyra
Your show was great on interracial dating. I think that it should not matter what color you are because love has no color to it. The heart is what really matter and the color is nothing to me. I don't see anything wrong with interracial dating. I hate that people have to deal with ignorant people in the world. For example when i was in high school i was a cheerleader and some of the white cheerleaders dated the black football players . the white cheerleaders parents make their self out to be christians but when they found out about their daughter dating black guys they got their cars taken away. I think that if your are a christian you do not see a color and their is not any race that is above or below your own race. GOD doesnt see a color when he judges us so we should not judge anyone either. I didnt like the comment the white man in the audience said about the black guy Charles looking like he was from the ghetto. I just want to let you know there are alot of black talented educated brother in this world not every black male have to do illegal things to survive. Some black men are smart just like other men in other racial groups.

To the poster who in on one board his name is "Spanky" and on this board "Vancity" you were concerned that white men came off as being weak and nerdy. This particular white guy was weak and racist. He allows his friends and family to disrespect his black girlfriend. If you taped the show watch him fight the smile and laughter bubbling up in him as she tells of being called a Jungle Monkey/Bunny by his friends. Then told that it was only a joke. It was no joke and by allowing it, he was complicit and comfortable with the comments. Also, you know and I know that when she is not with him and he is with them he joins in the comments and laughter.

He was weak, not because he is white, but because of his own ignorance. BTW, she needs to stop hating herself and her race and walk away from this loser. Her value is greater than the price he is put on it.

As for the white guy at the restaurant, though he has dated black, he has never taken his dates to restaurants in urban centers, because had he done so he would have recognized the foods and he would have been comfortable in his environment. However, I liked him, because he was honest and far more appealing than the other guy.

I am curious, "How were you able to equate her comment about a black man' s walk/swagger, with the hip hop culture? Haven't you ever noticed Denzel's walk? The Rock? Lovely. Do you know I am very surprised that I will add this next name -- Eddie Murphy. Check his walk in Trading Places, when he not acting like a clown or when takes the stage.

Then to add insult to injury you equated the walk with a facade as though the walk was not real.

You were not happy with the guys representing your race on stage and that is understandable as that guy was a poor excuse for a human being to allow such a hateful comment to stand about his girlfriend and then join in on the laughter. He was a pig, but I do not see him as being all white men. Unlike, other people of other cultures seeing blacks as being all of the same. What about the gentleman in the audience who looked at the college educated young black man on the stage and said, :He looks like a pimp?" That was alright with you?

The problem most black people have is not the racism, as all cultures experience racism, but that they are judged based on the dregs of their culture, but other cultures are judged based on their successes. Mull that over and realize where the hurt comes from inside and outside. Not whining, just overwhelmed by the unfairness of it all.

The only true problem that I have with interracial coupling is when you hate your own race.

I attended a banquet hosted by another company. During the course of the evening I noticed that there were two black people in attendance. I worked my way over to speak to the gentleman and to introduce myself and as I was extending my hand and opening my mouth, he touched his wife's/girlfriend's back and they turned and walked away. I was taken aback, then I rationailized, he may not have seen me, because though I may think of myself as tall I really am only 5'1" tall.

My next opportunity came and the same thing occurred. It was no accident it was deliberate and it tore me up inside and stopped me in my tracks. The entire evening the only racism I experienced was at the hands of one of my own kind.

If I had the chance to say something to the guy I would tell him to continue to hate himself and to keep it contained so that it does not splash on me.

I am not his enemy. He is his own enemy.

TO ANONYMOUS

I am an African American woman who read your post and I understand what you are saying because I have often thought about it myself. I angers me that minorities can say all these racist things about white people in their face and whites are just suppose to take it. Maybe whites should start speaking up about this reverse racism. I agree with you when you said that if whites had white pride day then you would be called racist. I think there is wa ay that could counter this. What about an Irish pride march or a Polish pride march or buttons that say I'm proud to Celtic or Welsh. I think that would eliminate you being labled as a racist. I think the reason whites are seem as racist when they proclaim white pride is that whole thing with the KKK. Unfornunately you guys are going to have to finds ways to defeat reverse racism and talking about it here is a good start.

Tyra I think your shows on racism and inter racial dating were great. As a mother of two bi-racial children I hate when people say racist comments. When people say n**ga it pisses me off because my children are african american as well white. It really hurts me to see all the hate in the world against each other because of skin color when we are all the same underneath. People can be so cruel and judgemental I have gotten lots of negative comments for dating african american guys. The saddest thing some came from family members. For instance I am trash are I have jungle fever. White guys don't what do date me because i have dated black men I am not good enough! I really wish all races could learn to get along maybe in the future we will learn. Until then I think we should try to bring the subject up any and every where we can and as much as possible.

I was just reading some comments about racism and came across 2 that were posted by FARRAH.

I just had a couple of comments regarding what she wrote about her being sick of black people complaining about slavery and how this generation didn't even go through that and how it's Jewish people that have really suffered and are still suffering. Well, I have to say that you need to do some research. Although slavery doesn't really exist anymore, the African American community is still suffering. Racism is highest against African Americans, especially in the job industry. A white man/woman (whether he/she is Jewish, British or just Caucasian) Would get paid a much higher salary than an African American for the same position, even if they both have the same level of education and work experience. There is still a glass ceiling for the African American community and it is really hard for them to break through because unfortunately, racism is still very real. I work in a law firm of 120 lawyers and guess how many of them are black??? 1, one, uno. That's right. One African American woman- that's it. Then there's like 5 -7 Asians, and the rest are white (half of them or more Jewish by the way) So I'm not taking away from what the Jewish went through, I have studied the holocaust in college, I have a good idea, but do not take away from what the African American community is going through. After all, if you really want to see who's had it worst, ask yourself this question, How many African American Presidents have we had? Any money bet we'll have a White Woman President before an African American even gets to fairly run for office. Oh yeah, down south African American men and women are still getting lynched and killed in hate crimes everyday. So please, do your research.

i felt soooooooooo bad for the muslim girl on the show. i cannot remember her name but i will never forget her face. i did not agree with anything the panel said about her. when i look at a middle eastern person i do not think of a terrorist. i see a person who is discriminated against thousands of americans. i cannot believe that one major event in history made an entire race look bad to nearly everyone. i am not justifying what the taliban did but the only ones who should suffer their actions is them!

Hi Tyra, My husband and I truly admire all of your accomplishments and how far you have come.
I wanted to comment on today's show about interracial relationships. I was really intrigued with this particular show because I myself am in an interracial marriage. My husband is a dark skinned African American and I am a very light skinned Latina(Dominican). Although most people would think it's not a big issue, since we are both minorities (I hate calling myself that by the way!!!) Still, it is an issue. My husband and I met and started dating when we were 14 yrs old. We grew up together and have been through it all together and now 10 yrs later (10 yrs on NOV 13-7 yrs dating, 3 yrs married)We still get the angry stares from none other than African American women. It's mostly on the train and in the Brooklyn neighborhoods-but it still amazes me how angry a person can get just because you are of different races. It's crazy that we should have to explain ourselves. I mean it's 2006-get over it already-kill the ignorance. When I look at my husband I see a beautiful man, the man I love and married- I don't look at him and say- "oh, there's my black husband." I married a person, not a race. We are all the same underneath the skin-blood and meat. People who date other people with a race preference are ignorant and people who judge interracial couples are ignorant. With so much crap going on in this world, it's a shame that people still find the time to put focus on such minor issues as race and color. If anything, you should see it as getting the best of 2 worlds.

I am African American and I'm glad to see you tackle this area. It is very important but excuse me hon, WHERE ARE THE NATIVE AMERICANS????? And I'm not talking about somebody whose great-grandmother is Cherokee, but I'm talking about some full-blooded Natives here! Why do people (including black people)fail to mention or include them? They are everywhere. They aren't hard to find ya know? We hear about black people and other races all the time but never about Natives. People need to know that Native Americans were the FIRST slaves, not black people! People need to know that smallpox was spread to them on PURPOSE. People need to know about the boarding schools and how it came to have a negative impact on them even today. Did you know that Native get picked on by cops? Did you know that black people treated Natives like crap back in the day? And still do! I am of Creek descent and my Native relatives were picked on and looked down upon by blacks in the area. They called em dirty indians. Natives were and still are the victims of racism probably far worse than blacks ever were. Do we know this? No, because they are never included in any discussion. Come on, lets wake up here!!!! I can see why Jeff Weise was so angry!

I just caught the last half of your show on inter-racial dating. It’s great that your trying to open discussions on such an important topic.

I think Vancouver in particular is more of a tolerant society, because I see inter-racial dating all the time, and have never heard of any major issues.

I for one always date outside of my race. It isn't because I'm embarrassed of my own race, or because I'm succumbing to idiotic stereotypes. I date outside my race, because I'm attracted to other races. I feel inter-racial dating is the spice of life. It gives people a chance to learn about other cultures, traditions, etc...

I would die of boredom always dating my own race. Why should I feel forced to keep to my own kind because of the ignorance of others?

It seems to me that America is a nation divided. Where as Canada is more of a true melting pot. Not to turn this into a Canada vs. USA topic, but I'm just saying...

I thought White men on your show were not represented very well at all. All of the White men were your stereotypical meek & meager nerdy types who can’t dance, and wear sweater vests.

That one guest that let his own friends call his girlfriend a "Jungle Monkey" was spineless, and a total embarrassment to White men everywhere.

The other White guy you sent out on a date wasn't much better, but you did send him out on a date in a black neighborhood. You could see all the glares he was getting, and it was obvious it was totally uncomfortable. While on the other hand, the Filipino guy you set up on a date got to be on a one on one date, in comfortable setting, so he could openly speak his mind.

White men were portrayed weak losers with no style. There are plenty of talented, strong, handsome white guys with plenty of "swagger". Matthew Mcconnaughey, and Brad Pitt come to mind, just to name a few.

Every race has your stereotypical bookworm type people, and the stereotypical jock types, or the smooth player types, so it's wrong to say all White people do this, or all Chinese people do that.

I think that "swagger" that your one guest was referring to that all Black men have, is more a facade then anything. Sure there are lots of talented, strong, handsome black men with plenty of “swagger” but a large population of Black men are only playing the role of the Hip Hop stars they see everyday in their favorite music videos. If a white man plays that role, he's a a Wannabe or a Wigger (instead of someone who's into Hip Hop culture), if a Black man with no talent plays that role, nobody seems to say anything.

As a White man, I've been feeling a lot of reverse racism (not in Vancouver) mainly through American media. It doesn't matter if it's a stand up comic, or a rapper or whatever. It's always “Whiteboys are this or that, and Black men do it so much better.” That kind of stereotype started with Richard Prior. He is a very funny comic, and was revealing some truths about society at that time. Instead of the topics changing with the times, most of today’s Black comedians have built their careers off of re-hashed racial routines, stolen directly from Richard Prior. I realize black people have been held down for a long time, so it's just human nature to exploit the situation when you get an opportunity, but that will only cause more hurt for everybody. Don't be ignorant people!

I just caught the last half of your show on inter-racial dating. It’s great that your trying to open discussions on such an important topic.

I think Vancouver in particular is more of a tolerant society, because I see inter-racial dating all the time, and have never heard of any major issues.

I for one always date outside of my race. It isn't because I'm embarrassed of my own race, or because I'm succumbing to idiotic stereotypes. I date outside my race, because I'm attracted to other races. I feel inter-racial dating is the spice of life. It gives people a chance to learn about other cultures, traditions, etc...

I would die of boredom always dating my own race. Why should I feel forced to keep to my own kind because of the ignorance of others?

It seems to me that America is a nation divided. Where as Canada is more of a true melting pot. Not to turn this into a Canada vs. USA topic, but I'm just saying...

I thought White men on your show were not represented very well at all. All of the White men were your stereotypical meek & meager nerdy types who can’t dance, and wear sweater vests.

That one guest that let his own friends call his girlfriend a "Jungle Monkey" was spineless, and a total embarrassment to White men everywhere.

The other White guy you sent out on a date wasn't much better, but you did send him out on a date in a black neighborhood. You could see all the glares he was getting, and it was obvious it was totally uncomfortable. While on the other hand, the Filipino guy you set up on a date got to be on a one on one date, in comfortable setting, so he could openly speak his mind.

White men were portrayed weak losers with no style. There are plenty of talented, strong, handsome white guys with plenty of "swagger". Matthew Mcconnaughey, and Brad Pitt come to mind, just to name a few.

Every race has your stereotypical bookworm type people, and the stereotypical jock types, or the smooth player types, so it's wrong to say all White people do this, or all Chinese people do that.

I think that "swagger" that your one guest was referring to that all Black men have, is more a facade then anything. Sure there are lots of talented, strong, handsome black men with plenty of “swagger” but a large population of Black men are only playing the role of the Hip Hop stars they see everyday in their favorite music videos. If a white man plays that role, he's a a Wannabe or a Wigger (instead of someone who's into Hip Hop culture), if a Black man with no talent plays that role, nobody seems to say anything.

As a White man, I've been feeling a lot of reverse racism (not in Vancouver) mainly through American media. It doesn't matter if it's a stand up comic, or a rapper or whatever. It's always “Whiteboys are this or that, and Black men do it so much better.” That kind of stereotype started with Richard Prior. He is a very funny comic, and was revealing some truths about society at that time. Instead of the topics changing with the times, most of today’s Black comedians have built their careers off of re-hashed racial routines, stolen directly from Richard Prior. I realize black people have been held down for a long time, so it's just human nature to exploit the situation when you get an opportunity, but that will only cause more hurt for everybody. Don't be ignorant people!

I enjoyed your show this afternoon. But in today's military world, you do have a lot of asian women FROM OTHER COUNTRIES, not the ones born in the US, do marry americans (white or black) because they think we are rich. This makes me so angry when I find this out. They are only looking for a way to come to the US and don't need the men anymore. Once they come they divorce our men because they are in the US. This is just a way for them to come into our country easier without all the red tape it usually takes. I think we could do something to protect our men who give their lives for our country. They have enough on their minds while out on manouvers that they don't need to worry about their women leaving them.

As a black woman with 2 mixed children, who is married to a white woman it makes me sick to hear the comments that people make about interracial dating, marriage, friendships and whatever else. I was outcasted at school by most black girls because I had more white or hispanic friends than I did black, and even more outcasted by the black boys (who by the way called me ugly) because I dated white guys. I've been asked why I dated white guys, "what's wrong with my eyes"? My oldest daughter has never met her white great grand parents, because they didn't want to admit they have a n**ger great grand baby. One of my mixed cousins who has a white mother and her black father is my uncle even told me that I the guy I was dating only wanted to use me a slave and that our relationship wouldn't last. Now 11 years later we are happily married and expecting our 2nd child. I mean i've dated black guys and just felt better with a white man. I'm not saying that any one is better than the other but itwas my choice and I shouldn't be judged for who I fell in love with.

Today's show was great, I actually learned something from it. I didn't know that people could be so mean .I came to this country a month ago and i had no clue that dating could be a problem. I used to live in Ethiopia(east Africa)and i thought people were OK with dating other race.And to tell you the truth i didn't see the problem of dating a white guy or a mexican. To avoid racism I think we should avoid judging people. I think it is great that you mentioned this problem, now people would act against it.

I am in a interacial relationship. I met my husband when I was 13 and he was 15. We are now 35 and 37. We have been married for 13 years and have 3 beautiful children. I am black, he is white and our children are mixed. We are Bermudian and where we are there are alot of children like ours. They are the future of our country.

Leah
Southampton
Bermuda

I was just reading a few notes on racism (didn't see show) but know so called black and white racism needs to be exposed loudly for what it is, so thanks. My dark-skinned daughter just got hired at a pizza place for the first time and when she went in, the manager did not let her start work. He told her the hiring manager made a mistake and he put it on her age. Yet she said he told someone else (while she was waiting to be let in) that they hire at her age.

First of all I just want to say that i LOVE Tyra, she is inspiration for not only girls but guys as well! Your the best!

I am 22 years old and I just want to say that I am a Native American Indian, to be specific I am an Okanagan Interior Salish Indian. I was born and raised in Penticton British Columbia Canada, but have been living the last 6 months here in Olympia Washington. I just noticed that when you did your show on Racism there were no native americans. It was kind of disappointing because we have delt with a lot of Racism, just as well as other races. Being that casinos are so big in america, and what Arnold Schwarzenegger was arguing about native americans and casinos was pretty big in media. Along with other big arguments dealing with natives. I would like to see a native american be interviewd one time. LOVE YA TYRA!

"Wai7" (Hello / Bye) in the Okanagan language, pronounced as "white" but without the "t" (Whi)

I've watch your show on racism as well. I believe the way we may stop racism is start by healing within ourselves. For instance, people whose complexion is lighter should stop ignorantly believing that just because their complexion is lighter, they're better than those whose complexion are medium to dark. Because that's a bunch of bull crap. For those who think like that was lied to by truly ignorant, sick in the head people. As of those people who believe that just because their complexion is dark and have no place in this world, are sick in the head too. We all must believe that know man on earth is better than the other, because we all have similar personalities(good or bad). Once we all truly believe that within ourselves, that is when the healing of racism begins. (Within ourselves). For the people of the african descent who are still getting offended by the word n**ger, should begin to heal from that as well. The healing begins when you realize that word was made up by ignorant, uneducated, corrupted minded people and that the definition of it truly does not make any sense at all. I believe that the slaves did not know that word may have been made up, because they did not know how to read at the time and as time went by, did not bother to look it up to see whether it made any since or not. As long as you allow that word to destroy your emotions, you're still allowing those wicked minded people to control and own a part of your soul. As of those application that asks about race or ethnicity should be banded completely. I feel that it is discriminating when those questions are being asked, whether you answer them or not. To me it's really unnecessary and it makes no since at all. I hate it when people try to maked since out of it. There's more I have to say about this but I am going to end it by saying that I believe racism may end by healing within ourselves first. Also deeply loving ourselves and respectfully not giving a damn about what those ignorant, narrow, corrupted and sick minded people think about being excepted in this world. It is senseless. Oh, and stop calling yourselves black or white. That really sound stupid.

hello tyra,
I just wanted to say, like everyone here, I really enjoy watching your shows and was very interested in the segment of racism, but yet, I was very disappointed that native americans were not included?!Are we that insignificant to America that we are not included in everyday situations? Prejudice and streotype hit us everyday and it would have been nice to educate those who know little about native americans and prove that not all of us are drunks and own casinos nor does every tribe speak the same language! I know it is a little late that I post this, but I finally got to a computer at school and was very surprised and pleased that I wasn't the only native american to comment.

Dear Tyra Staff,
I just posted a comment saying thanks for not posting my comment on racism. I accidently clicked the post icon before I could finish. Sorry about that. I just wanted to finish saying that I do love Tyras show. I love what shes doing and how shes trying to help. I just dont agree with this issue of racism. I am a christian and I feel like this that matter to us are discriminated on; our pastors, missions and exc. The people in Hollywood are doing what they can by helping starving children and I respect that. However, I dont know these people personally and as a viewer I just see this huge epidemic of people/media that just chase Hollywood and to me as a viewer, they paint this picture that they are the only ones who do good things that deserve attention. I understand that you cant post every persons comment on the web. I just felt a little discriminated because I was talking about Jewish people and what they go through. I have been reading the comments on the site; I see nothing that shows any attention to the Jewish people. THEY ARE APART OF AMERICA; THEY ARE HERE TOO, THEY EXPERIENCE THINGS TOO. I am not Jewish. I am a young white woman and I see the pain that they go through. Why does it seem like no one else does? Thank you for opening the door for me to express my freedom of speech to Americans. Thanks Tyra Show.

Dear Tyra Show staff,
Thanks so much for not posting my heartfelt response about the Jewish community and racism. It seems people consider them white until they want something. I feel like somethings are always going to lean on the black community and everyone elses sob stories because no one wants to stand up and say something; its all about American people. Why dont you do a story about all the small children being sold to prostitution in other countries. THOSE ARE REAL ISSUES GOING ON TODAY. NOT SOMETHING THAT HAPPEND WHEN THE AFRICAN AMERICAN SOCIETY THAT EXISTS TODAY DIDNT EVEN EXPERIENCE. I am so sick of hearing about how the blacks know how it feels to be treated like a slave and all that stuff. Todays society didnt even experience that. Yeah they experience racism; EVERYONE DOES THAT DOESNT MAKE THEM THE MOST DISCRIMINATED. I feel that its become an excuse to complain. I feel like the reason why people on your show said that the black community has it worse is because they were on your show and they didnt want to offend Tyra or the staff. When does a group of black people even care what happens to a little white girl or hispanic girl? The community has only heard of it and listened to the stories of what happend; maybe they watched "Roots" and "The Color Purple" but that doesnt mean that they know how it feels. You want to talk about abuse and slavery... JEWISH PEOPLE HAVE BEEN KILLED FOR OVER A CENTURY NOT TO MENTION THE WAY THAT THEY WERE KILLED AND ARE STILL BEING KILLED. You want to talk about being screwed out of life; what about Jesus? He had to die for other people. Why dont you bring some good pastors on your show who do more than donate to charities and adopt children? After all no one does more for charities and people than HOLLYWOOD right? To me,THATS BULL. Pastors have been doing it for way longer than HOLLYWOOD, when do they get credit? They dont. The get mocked for preaching love. Somehow, Hollywood doesnt, probably because they are stars who are worshiped like false gods. However, someone who cant hold a merriage in Hollywood does something good for society it becomes a "do-gooder" movement in the whole country and that person is the way to be; even though it seems to be that they do not have respect for the vows of merriage and become homewreckers. I think its rediculous. I prefer to worship something that cares about me and wont put a bodyguard infront of me when I want to see them. I dont have make an appointment with God.

Peace Tyra. We discussed this show in one of my graduate social work classes. I could go on and on about the show but I'm an African American woman and because of being who I am, I am able to have empathy for other people. We all have gone through something. Whether or not it was as severe or as hurtful or whatever, the point is, we all have experienced suffering. We need to acknowledge that about each other, none of us is better than each other. We live in a racist society but we don't have to contribute to that ignorance. It starts with the person standing looking back at you in the mirror. You be the change you want to see in the world. Stop the stereotypes, the assumptions, the labels and all that bs. Get to know people different from you, you may learn something. Because at the end of the day, we are spiritual beings first and foremost and all this race, skin color, human crap is secondary and steers us away from realizing our true purpose. Lets elevate people, stop the ignorance!

Hotep!

I have taken some time before I wrote this comment on the Racism show and after reading the other comments, I see that I am not alone in my thoughts. As as Anishnabe Kwe (Ojibwe woman) I was troubled that Tyra did not include the First Nation's People. With the upcoming Columbus Day I need to say that we do not celebrate this day...why would we....we were never "Discovered" by Columbus...an Elder once told me that Columbus thought he landed in India hence the name Indians...good think he didn't think he landed in Turkey..
but seriously....
If you look back at what happened to our people over the past 500 years you would have to admire us. You see as much as people have tried to "assimulate" us, we are still a strong nation -proud of our way of life, our language and proud of who we are. THis was not always easy.
I grew up with my adopted finnish family and looked nothing like my sisters and brothers...kids at school would call me wagon burner, chief and other mean names.
I tried to scrub the darkness off my skin so I wouldn't get teased so much...that was then...this is now...I am proud of who I am and proud of my brothers and sisters. I celebrate the difference in races and appreciate those differences. DIFFERENT DOESN"T MEAN WRONG!!
I hope if you consider doing another show you include the First People of this nation. We are not all drunks!
I was once told that as a Native American woman in the work force I have to work harder than anyone else just to prove myself.
How very true
Thanks Tyra for opening the door for discussion. I hope you "hear" all that is being said.
Yours in Unity,
Kathy

This is for Jessica she wrote October 2. Im an African American woman and i read your comment and Im commenting back to when you said that we have college funds and things well we have those thing do to the fact that some of us really want to go to college but cant afford it, so we try to raise money due to that fact. And when you said that it doesnt matter about the race when trying to get a job sometimes it does b/c some bosses might just be prejudice and not hire anyone w/ color.

My name is Laura and I'm a mixed Mexican-American women living in California.
I'd just like to say to all the people thinking this country is being racist towards the whole "illegal immagration" thing going on.
It is NOT about people coming here illegally from Mexico! It is about protecting this country from terrorists.
If someone can easily come in from the Mexican border into the USA (and yes it is pretty easy. I've seen family of my husband get family from Mexico over here pretty easily), then that means anyone can do it. The USA is just protecting itself. It's not being racist towards people of Mexico.
And one more thing, yes people used to come here way back when the USA was barely discovered. Now there ARE laws to this country! People must follow them.

whats sad is when parents try to pass on their prejudice and or racism onto their kids... kind of like what my parents are trying to do. they don't like my friends because none of my friends are indian more particularly, sindhi. they complain that i don't make an effort to make indian friends but i think that there is no effort in establishing friendship. either you click or you dont. also, my parrents say i cannot marry someone who isn't from our race, province and their religious sect (even thou i do not follow their faith)... this really frustrates me because i'm already in love and he fails in all three qualifications my parents have set.

As regards to Muslims in America. After 911 and since for that fact, Muslim religious leaders in America have not openly condemned the acts of terrorists. When they have responded at all it has been lukewarm at best. If Muslims in the US do not want people to be suspicious of them then they need to actively and publicly state their views on terrorism, that is, openly condemn the acts of extremists. Because they have not done this, other Americans have no way of knowing what they really think. And of course, not knowing causes fear, and fear leads to discrimination. American Muslims need to speak out for the country in which they live, the country which affords them the freedom to do so. And until they do, I am afraid that people will continue to distrust and be suspicious of them. And frankly they have a right to be suspicious, considering that terrorists have lived in our country, enjoyed it's freedoms, only to turn around and commit heinous acts. The terrorists of 911 WERE somebodies next door neighbor! How are we supposed to know who is who unless non-terrorist Muslims speak out in clear condemnation of terrorism?

i didn't think there was racism still going on until i got in contact with my dad for the first time since i was six and i am now 19 and i just found out he was racist he made some really bad comments about african americans and it opened up my eyes and see it is still going on today i'm really shocked that some one would sit there and say those things knowing i have friends and family who are african american and some are half.

I watched the show were you split the audience into different racial groups. And, i was blown away when your guest doctors said that black people have had it the worst do to slavary. Black people in this day and age are not victims of slavary. I think that Arab Americans, African Americans, Asain Americans, Mexican Americans, ect. are very privileged. You all have your own college funds, your own holidays, and your own months.

I am a white woman and i am going to college. When i started my enrollment for my schooling, I realized that there is no scholarship for just white people like there is for the United Negro College Fund.

I felt like Tyra kept pulling more towards the black people and sympathizing with them. I understand why she might have done that do to the fact that she is a black woman. but, i felt that she should not have done that do to the fact that shit is the host.

Being in school still, i still hear "I didnt pass that test because im black." When i was in high school, i just brushed it off because i figured its just someone being immature. But, to be an adult and still hear that from other adults makes me realize that these people dont fail tests because of the color of their skin, they fail these test because of the lack of information that they have.

Being fresh out of high school, i am entering the work force. and i still hear the i didnt get the job because im (whatever race that person is). If people would read EVERYTHING on applications, it says that the business does not discriminate based on: Race, gender, size, ect. So, people are clearly not getting these jobs because they are not qualified.

Hearing people use their race as an excuse really make me look at people like they ignorant.

I am bi-racial and I am also in a interracial marriage. I just wanted to express how glad I am to see shows like this, bringing this taboo subject, out into the open. I couldn't believe that in 2006 people where still so ignorant, cruel, and raciest. Being bi-racial I have had to endure racism in many different forms. Including people trying to categorize me as being either "too black" or "not black enough". I am hoping this show opened a lot of eyes and in the future (with shows like this) we can erase the problem of racism.

Here is a blog I commented on concerning a very ignorant comparison I found posted on a website. The first paragraph explains who is writing who in the article, while the last response is from me and a reader from my group on the issues pertaining to both people's ignorance.

And before we actually get into the article I would just like to note that when my Husband and I got married, we honeymooned in Fiji. It was while we were staying in Fiji that I noticed that the Fijians, New Zealanders, Indians, Hindus, the British and the Australians did not look at us as a black man and a mexican woman being a married couple, they only considered us to be Americans...the end. There was never any type of racial distinguishment ever during our entire week long stay. There was never any type of distinguishment of our race, these different cultures only saw as one race being from one country, and that is the problem with America, we are such a diverse mix of peoples...it was what our country was founded on, and yet we as a people are completely blindsided by a cultural seperation factor. It is through carrying pride of so many different cultural traditions/values that we forget that America is the one culture that we should come to assimulate into, not seperate from. The Hispanics, the Asians, The African-Americans, the Native Americans, the Pacific Islanders, the Caucassions, the Indians, the Muslims are all caught up in trying to keep their cultures seperate from one another, that we ultimately forget that we are one culture mixed together, that is the American culture. What we have is a multitude of different cultures trying to stay seperate from one another rather than merge together to form one new, united culture. Anyways, here's the article:

TITLE OF ARTICLE:
WHITE WOMAN'S OPINION OF BLACK WOMEN:
Please take a moment and read this...Pretty Deep! It seems that an article was written to Sister 2 Sister magazine by a white woman who requested a response from black men.

{DEAR JAMIE:
I'm sorry but I would like to challenge some of your Black male readers. I am a White female who is engaged to a Black male-good-looking, educated and loving. I just don't understand a lot of Black female's attitudes about our relationship.
My man decided he wanted me because the pickings amongst Black women were slim to none. As he said they were either too fat, too loud, too mean, too argumentative, too needy, too materialistic or carrying too much excess baggage. Before I became engaged, whenever I went out I was constantly approached by Black men, willing to wine and dine me and give me the world. If Black women are so up in arms about us being with their men, why don't they look at themselves and make some changes. I am tired of the dirty looks I get and snide remarks when we're out in public. I would like to hear from some Black men about why we are so appealing and coveted by them. Bryant Gumbel just left his wife of 26 years for one of us Charles Barkley, Scottie Pippen, the model Tyson Beckford, Montell Williams, James Earl Jones, Cuba Gooding Jr., Wesley Snipes...I could go on and on. But, right now, I'm a little angry and that is why I wrote this so hurriedly. Don't be mad with us White women because so many of your men want us. Get your acts together and learn from us and we may lead you to treat your men better. If I'm wrong, Black men, let me know.
Disgusted White Girl, Somewhere in VA}

[{DEAR JAMIE:
I would like to respond to the letter written by A Disgusted White Girl. Let me start by saying that I am a 28-year old black man. I graduated from one of the most prestigious universities in Atlanta, Georgia with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business Management. I have a good job at a major corporation and have recently purchased a house. So, I consider myself to be among the ranks of successful black men. I will not use my precious time to slander white people. I just want to set the record straight of why black men date white women. Back in the day, one of the biggest reasons why black men dated white women was because they were considered easy. The black girls in my neighborhood were raised in the church. They were very strict about when they lost their virginity and who they lost it to. Because of our impatience to wait, brothers would look for someone who would give it up easy without too much hassle. So, they turned to the white girls. Nowadays, in my opinion, a lot of brothers date white women because they are docile and easy to control. A lot of black men, because of insecurities, fears, and overall weaknesses, have become intimidated by
the strength of our black women. We are afraid that our woman will be more successful than us, make more money than us, drive nicer cars and own bigger houses. Because of this fear, many black men look for a more docile woman. Someone we can control. I have talked to numerous black men and they continuously comment on how easy it is to control and walk over their white women. I just want to set the record straight. I want A Disgusted White Girl to know that not all successful black men date white women. Brothers like Ahmad Rashad, Denzel Washington, Michael Jordan, Morris Chestnut, Will Smith, Blair Underwood, Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Samuel L. Jackson, and Chris Rock all married strong black women And, to flip the script, there are numerous white men, in and out of the spot light, who openly or secretly desire black women over white women. Ted Danson, Robert DeNiro, and David Bowie to name a few. I just don't want a disgusted white girl to be misinformed Stop thinking that because you are white that you are some type of goddess. Remember, when black Egyptian Queens like Hatsepshut and Nitorcris were ruling Dynasties and armies of men in Egypt, you were over in the caves of Europe eating raw meat and beating each other over the head with clubs. Read your history! It was the black woman that taught you how to cook and season your food. It was the black woman that taught you how to raise your children. It was black women who were breast feeding and raising your babies during slavery. It is the black woman that had to endure watching their fathers, husbands, and children beaten, killed, and thrown in jail. Black women were born with two strikes against them: being black and being a woman. And, through all this, Still They Rise! It is because of the black women's strength, elegance, power, love and beauty that I could never date anyone except my black Queen. It is not just the outer beauty that captivates and draws me to them. It is not the fact that they come in all shapes, sizes, colors and shades that I love them. Their inner beauty is what I find most appealing about black women. Their strong spirit, loving and nurturing souls, their integrity, their ability to overcome great obstacles, their willingness to stand for what they believe in, and their determination to succeed and reach their highest potential while enduring great pain and suffering is why I have fallen in love with black women. I honestly believe that your anger is geared more toward jealousy and envy more so than snotty looks. If this were not so, then why do you continuously go to tanning salons to darken your skin? If you are so proud to be white, then why don't you just be happy with your pale skin? Why do you continue to inject your lips, hips, and breasts with unnatural and
dangerous substances so you can look fuller and more voluptuous? I think that your anger is really a result of you wanting to have what
the black woman has. BOTTOM LINE: If I were looking for a docile woman, someone I can walk over and control, I would give you a call. But, unfortunately, I am looking for a Virtuous Woman. Someone that can be a good wife and mother to my children. Someone who can be my best friend and understands my struggles. I am
looking for a soul mate. I am looking for a sister and; unfortunately, you do not and CANNOT fit the bill.
No offense taken, none given.
Signed, Black Royalty.}]

MY RESPONSE TO THIS PAINFUL LETTER ON BOTH SIDES:
It is a sad world we live in today, people still fight and bicker over who is more prominent as a color. Both people in this article are very ignorant to even compare. America's history has caused a lot of hurt to the black population and I sympathize greatly, But at the same time this pain (which may linger in the black man's heart) refuses to allow other people in. True, the black population survived harsh times and overcame it by becoming stronger, and by taking over the responsibilities of the whites, I agree. But it will continue to be a vicious cycle until someone can forgive the other, and the other learn to drop their fears of inferiority. America is based off of fear, fear of terror, fear of losing the majority reign, fear of fear, & fear of color...too many fears to count. This is the underlying reason for racism today.

And as I was looking through this and reading...It is a very interesting topic, but also hurtful to the progression of the races on both sides. It is sad to see that black and white are still pitted against one another even in love, with fierce competition. I have way too many thoughts about both side's comments...so to make a long story short...people should put aside their differences in color and learn to respect the other person because they are human, not because of what race they belong to. My soulmate happens to be black and I come form a mexican mother and a canadian father, the point is, I choose my fiancee based on the qualities of love and not skin.

Had I looked at his color, I would never have been able to date him in the first place...my family (my mom's side) was against dating outside of our mexican culture. My dad's side has disowned me (all but like 4 people) because of my choice to marry him. Think about the bigger issues people! We continue to degress, rather than progress because human nature loves conflict. I am thankful though that my mom's side has finally accepted Stephen for who he is..they realized that he makes me happy and that I will never love another man, the way I do Stephen. They love him just as they love me, because they looked beyond the color of his skin.
As I write this, it is ever so painful to realize how my own family (dad's side) can disown me due to the fact that I am marrying a man outside my race. They refuse to see Stephen for the man he is, instead they only see his color.

AN INSIGHTFUL REVIEW FROM A READER IN MY GROUP:
This is a topic that I hear a lot about. The preposterousness in the belief that "black men" date "white women" is based on the opinion that this woman's boyfriend or fiance conveyed to her is not worth thinking about. While I must admit that there are some men who say things as such, his opinion is one that is filled with ignorance. When we consider the fact that race DOES NOT exist, and that race was established under the pressure of fear, which sadly resulted in dominance, dictatorship, and hatred (the lowest standards of separation), it should make for a better understanding of ourselves as people. Before the establishment of race, We were all ordinary people of many skin tones. Also, the statement that "guys date 'white women' because they are docile and easy [when it comes to sexual relationships]" is also a notion of questionability. I must admit that I have heard such things as mentioned in letter one, it seems a lot like "Disgusted" is gloating, rather than making an attempt to gain an understanding. It could also be that they are falling under the influences of society, which has convinced them that these negative beliefs are true. I personally couldn't care less about one societal label or the other. I like all people the same (people who actually know me will attest to that). I am anti-societal labels as well as against all other measures of division. There are so many other reasons not to interact with a person, and among them, skin color ranks highest in the category of absurdness. I can go on for pages about this topic, but I won't. In closing both parties took their letters too far. I was almost fine with the second letter because I was sure that the writer would convey a positive message especially after he states that "he will not waste time slandering "white people, " but then he contradicted himself by attacking the woman's tendency to do certain things (tan, implant, etc.). He could have questioned her obnoxiousness and then explained the fact that her boyfriend's opinion only accounts for his interpretation, and not for that of every other man.
I'm sad to hear about your family situation. It's just not right. As long as your husband is treating you well, it would seem that any parent would be happy for their child. Well I'm happy that you are happy.

MY RESPONSE TO MY READER:
Thank you very much for that very insightful statement! You have said everything that was running through my mind when I had first read this letter. I spoke to my fiancee yesterday about this letter, and he agreed that both parties acted very inappropriately for the same reasons you mentioned above.

It is very true that each party was out to slander one another, ironic how the two state that they are out to gain knowledge of the other's intentions, yet in the end, they end up degrading one another. This was the appalling factor for me when I read it. Their subconcious intentions were out to do harm rather than promote knowledge.

Hi Tyra,
I was quite touched by your show as it very much reflected on what America really is.Racism is very much alive and breathing!I was however disappointed because my race was neglected and that is African-African.I am black but was not born in America but in Africa specifically Kenya.I am sure you know about us as you have had us in your show-Americas Next Top Model.
We are very much discriminated everytime all over the place because most people are ignorant about Afica.Some or most people think we still live on trees and have no schools.In such instances they do not trust our high level of education since most of us are highly educated.Education in most parts of Africa[Kenya in specific] is taken seriously.Other than being African-African we are discriminated as African -Americans since we are black.
Racism hurts everyone and shouldeveryone should fight to eradicate it.America would not be America without all these different faces so lets all enjoy being in America and make everyone,s life sweeter!

I am a 43yr old woman and have had much racism throughout my life and still have it. I am Jewish and I have a son that is now 16 however when he was 5 and in nursery school he was wearing a jewish star necklace and another little boy pulled it off of him and told him he killed Jesus. He came home crying and did not understand that remark. I won't go into the rest but you get my point. Racism is not only about color or how you look. I don't know what's worse having people not like you because of the way you look or having them not like you after they find out you are Jewish. I just don't think you touched on this Tyra. I know what you were trying to do it is just a shame there is so much hate in the world.

tyra,
im a 23 year old white female. my son is bi-racial. I have delt with the ignorance of both sides. Hearing remarks and the rude comments of life. People dont understand that being racist is not going to get you anywhere in life. These racist crimes or hate crimes you may call them need to stop. The only thing I fear with my son is him growing up and being tormented by both and actually all races. Why because people dont know how to accept the differences. God made us all different in this worl. I'm for one glad I dont walk around seeing nothing but white people. Nothing but black, or hispanic. There are many culters and we all need to learn to respect them and to tell the truth, we should try to learn from them.

What is right is clear,and what is wrong is clear too.
Racism,we are different yes,but we look very nice mixed up(red,yellow,black,white).Body is like a container,what matters much is what is inside.And the best of us ,is who does best than others.
Thanks.

I don't know why racism exists to be honest. We are all the same. Just because someone is lighter or darker than you doesn't mean you should hate that person. And it's wrong to hate one race because a few people of that race did something wrong to you. We are all gonna be here for a long time, so we gotta get used to each other. I'm black (with some other things), and I believe that instead of having a month for African Americans and another Latinos, I think we should celebrate all races everyday. Because the African American culture and the Latino culture are apart of America too.

I go to a well mixed high school and there are alot of different races. If you look into the cafeteria on a normal lunch day you dont see the urban black students with the white students or you dont see the southern white students with the black students they all have there own little section. We have emo, Rednecks and they have there own little corner in the courtyard where is all white rednecks there are never anyother race over there and they are not afraid to call you out of your name. To be apart of these clicks you have to fit in to be one of them. See racism is everywhere especially in the public schools i have never seen it this bad where you hate to go to school in the morning and this is coming from a 10th grade student. Racism is another form of the AIDS virus and is spreading faster and faster in the younger generations today.

Hello Trya, I'am a mixed race, Native American and White, and I feel that we have not been reconized, and I think we need to show that Native Americans have been left behind. We were the first race in this country and we have been left out, I hope you can get a show on Native Americans it would be a great thing. And alot of Native Americans will be able to tell their side of the story of racism. You have a great show and can't wait to see a show on Native Americans.

Hey Tyra,
To be honest I never really understood racsism. I hear about it all the time and I just dont get it. There is good and bad in all people weather you are black, white, chinese, mexican, so on and so on. I have went to school with people that hated us white folks because of their ancestors being slaves. I have known white people hating blacks just because they wern't white. Since when is this a reason to hate somebody. And the black people hating whites for what happened uhh how many years ago....it's not our fault. Do you see this gong on anymore??? Cause I dont. Hate is a very strong word and people should think about that and not hate someone because their different. Sometimes being different is a good thing. If we were all the same think about how the world would be then.

I just had a conversation with an African American the other day when this person referred a Convenience store owner as a "Camel Jocky". I was so totally offended and told that person so. Their reaction was to just laugh at me and repeated what they had said. I asked them if they was to be called something like that wouldn't they be offended? Their reply to that was "Well that's different". I asked them HOW is that different but they couldn't give me an answer. Racsim comes in every form and color. It's neither White, Black, or any other certain color. We need to stop thinking it's all ONE races fault or problem. It's Everyones fault and problem. WE all need to put an end to it.

I just wanted to mention there are deeper issues to racism than who has it worse? I also noted there were no representatives of native americans/alaskan natives on the show. I just think this is a seriously underrepresented group.

I have to admit i never believed, or wanted to believe, how uneducated some "human beings"were. I have been facing this issue all my life, and no im not African American I am latina.Althought i was born and raised in the U.S i now live across the border and it just makes me sick to see all the hate. To be honest i believed "racism" would not be an issue living so close to the border, but i was wrong. I have seen their hateful acts of "punishment" to the "Illegal" immigrants...Why cant we understand this country is made of immigrants and the people whom belong to this country make the "true American continent. It is sad to realize how many people have given the greatest sacrifice to make a dream come true, and all seems to be just a beautiful fairy tale which cant ever be more than just that.

I think what people need to understand is that racisim is a form of mental illness. Those who are racist and, teach their children that a certain race is superior to others are passing that mental illness on to their children, thus saddling them with the burden that puts them at a huge disadvantage. Children who have this teaching ingrained into their minds find out 2 things when they grow up (if they are being honest with themselves) 1) they are not superior, more successful or more intelligent than a so-called minority and; 2) that their parents have lied to them. They see those who have been discriminated against getting the same jobs as their fathers and mothers, that they are just as and, in a lot of cases, more successful, educated and definately more resourceful than they are. They may reason, if I'm superior, why are they achieving the same things we are? In a society that grandfathers them into most things, they have to ask themselves, how can they be superior when those who are thought to be lesser are living successful lives, while being discriminated against? I think this new way of looking at racism should be explored further. People don't always look at the perpetrator of racims as victims but they are the biggest victims in this scenario because they are lying to themselves and they are not free.

Thanks.

I would just like to say thank you Tyra for always having interesting shows. I first would like to comment on some of the things that have been said on the forum. I am a Native American and a proud member of the Yakama Nation. I know a lot about the impact of racism as a Native American growing up with my grandmother. She was from the ol school sorta speak and she never believed that school was of importance. I know now that she had this impression of the "White" school system. I think that we as Native Americans have been forgotton and no one truely knows the things that were done to us a long time ago. My grandmother used to tell me about the stories of the children that had to attend school with the white children. And I can't for the life of me understand how someone could treat another human in such a way. But the bad thing is that when anything is said about racism we as Native Americans are not recognized. I remember when I seen that movie about racism I thought to myself I guess we don't experience racism. But I am here to make a voice for my Native people. It's odd to me that people of other native cultures don't really know what a Native American is. But I see why they would have that impression because you only learn what someone shows you in a book. I remember getting kicked out of history class because I stood up and let the teacher know that what he was teaching was false. But for me that was my pride standing up for my culture. I love being Native American and I wouldn't change that for the world. I am a mother now of a two year old and another on the way. My only hope for them is to pave a way for them to know both of their cultures. You see my husband is an African American and we live in the South. I have a hard time explaining to my son why there are no other Natives like his mommy here in the South. I know that there are Native Americans here but you have to look for them, and where I am from they are your neighbors. I am trying to teach my son about all of our culture, religion, and customs. But it is somewhat hard when the closest pow-wow is hours away. At home they are just down the street. I want people to know that what they see on the television is not what we are. We do not dance around a fire and hoot and hollar. Our day is the same as yours, because we get up go to work, have our cup of coffee, and take care of our family just like everyone else. We might not speak the same, we might not pray the same, and we might not celebrate the same, but we are human just like you.

I'm 16 and I'm hispanic. I don't really look like I am so I've never really heard racial remarks. I've heard some said to my other hispanic relatives and some of my black friends. The premise of this show...whoa! Its about high time something like this happened. Although I don't like the thing where people said which race had it worst. I despise that idea. All races have had it bad and have shared equal discrimnation. Don't be a victim and keep on saying who has it worst! The best revenge to the stereotypes of races is to prove them wrong. I also did not appreciate the black woman who said something about the Muslim woman. She said something about I would go to her because her brother or husband might have bombs and will protect me. They're the ones who bombed the Twin Towers! YOU ARE SO IGNORANT! Just like she said you'd think you would have been sympathetic towards her. RECHECK YOUR SELF AND GET SMART LIKE SHE SAID! That's all I really have to say on this issue. Thanks Tyra! ILY!

My daughter is a special ed child. And the school that she is in will not allow her to use the after school program. Because they say special ed and diable children are hard to control, because of their special needs.

Hi. I'm a Mexican-American woman who thinks that no matter what race you are you should be very proud. Life is too short. Tomorrow is not promised to anyone or any race. It takes too much to hate. Be happy! Learn to love and accept differences. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Open up to other cultures. The food, the languages. This is what truly makes America wonderful. I love African-Americans, Asians, Jews, Natives, Caucasians, Middle Eastern and many more not mentioned. Teach your kids to do the same! That's where our future is. Why would you want to be 80 and grumpy? Mad at the world. No one is going anywhere. We are all here. Let's accept our beautiful differences and learn about one another. Can you imagine a place without Mexican food, Soul food, Asian food, Arabic and all the many delicious restaurants out there? All we would have is burgers and hot dogs. Not that those are not good, but it would be pretty boring. I have so many friends of different races and I find that when it comes down to it. We are really not that different. Most of us do want a better life. I am so proud to say that my 9 yr. old daughter does not even question someone else's race or color. It's just another interesting person or just someone to play with. Makes mama proud! In every race and culture we have and have had great people or icons. I still get choked up when I hear Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s speeches. So sad to say that this race issue will always be, but start with yourself and you will see how much of a happier person you will be. Don't be afraid to get to know someone of a different race. Give peace a chance. God Bless.

Hello World,
I was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, raised a Catholic. My mother is Korean and my father Irish American. I was teased about being Asian American the whole time growing up. At that time no one really knew what a Korean was. They only knew Chinesse or "Chink". I don't have very many happy memories of growing up. I was sometimes ashamed of my mother being Korean.
I now have 5 children and I am married to a man from Pakistan. I have converted to Islam many years ago. We lived in Baltimore Maryland in a very poor neighborhood. It was mostly black, so my children were the minority in the schools. They were young enough not to notice the difference.
We have moved to Northern Virginia about 4 years ago. It is very expensive to live here, BUT we do whatever we can to stay here for our children. There are some days that we don't even see my husband because he is working so much and if he is home, he has to sleep to go back to work. Here is the most diverse place we have ever seen. Where you are and what is around you will affect your children. I didn't want my children to grow up and feel like they didn't belong or sad to be what they are. It is sad but where ever you go, where ever you live, there are going to be people who don't like who you are. They only see the outside and judge by that. We can't stop the world BUT we can protect and teach our children not to be that way.
I still go out as an Asain, Irish, American, Muslim with my children with my head up so that my children can too.
Another note: One day my 6 year old daughter was in school doing something on International day. She does not wear Hijab (scarf covering hair) everyday but this day she did. She was sharing with the class that her dad was from Pakistan and that she was Muslim. Another child said you don't look Muslim. She said what does Muslim look like? There is no answer to that question.
Muslim (Islam) is not a look it is a belief. Just as any other religion.(Not a look) Anyone can be what ever. Muslim is not a race.
Thank you for posting and keep teaching the children of our future not to hate.

I felt bad that the show did not even bother including "NATIVE AMERICANS" the first and the indigenous people of the US. Have we all forgotten the atrocities that Native Americans suffered in the hands of the most cruel society and government during those years???!Even until now we are still surrounded and constantly being bombarded by negative stereotypes about Native Americans. As much as I love your racism show, forgetting to include a Native American doesn't prove that Black people are the most hated and the group that suffered most.

I was saddened but not really surprised that Native Americans were not included on your show about racism. Native Americans are consistently excluded in the media. The conclusion on the show was that African Americans have historically suffered the most in this country and yet, Native Americans aren't even included in the discussion. Rendering a people invisible is the most hurtful form of racism.

hey tyra,
my name is matt wynk and i would like to comment on the show that i saw the other day on racism. it is all good and stuff that you do this show to educate people on what goes on in the world today but you left on of the most discriminated against people out of the conversation. i am native american and i come from the cherokee and ojibway tribes and i would like to say that everybody has it bas sometimes but i think that it doesn't compare to what we have to go through. we are the only people in the u.s. that have to carry a card that says what affiliation we belong to, and we have went through the most discrimination of anybody. nobody looks at that because everybody looks past what has happened to us. if it weren't for the native americans there would be no columbus discovering america because he most likely would have starved to death. i think that it is unfair that we just get overlooked. thank you and have a nice day

My name is Ashley, Im a mixed 20 year old woman. I have had people act horribly towards me...and not just white people, black people as well. Since I was 8 people would tell me my mommy couldnt be my mommy cause shes white and im not...just like with my older sister, they would say the same thing to me about her as well... I have 2 mixed siblings and 1 white one. As well as a white mother and a black father. I was told from the age of 8 till I was about 11 that my mother and sister could not be my mother and sister because they were white and I was black...and my daugther is very white with blonde hair and Im afraid that when she starts school that shes gonna have same of the problem...Im scared Im gonna come pick her up from school one day and shes gonna be crying because some little kid told her that Im not her mommy because Im black and shes not. The worst part is that people already think shes not mine. Ive been asked if I was her nanny or maid...and after that I went home and cried for fear that someday someone will convince her that Im not her mommy...so racism affect a lot of people and families in a lot of different ways...and this is how its affecting me and my family.

I am really disappointed in some of the comments posted on this site, especially those from the anonymous people. Tyra aired the show to help us see past our skin color and different ethnics but we are still bringing up the past and going back and forth about what blacks say and do to whites, or what whites say and do to blacks, and vice versa. Quit talking about what each other said or done and start to change things yourself. When you see someone say hey act friendly no matter how they respond back, least you cant say that you havent done your part and tried, who knows people might suprise you or you might suprise them. If we all walk around thinking and acting the way we do towards others of course nothings ever gonna change because we are gonna still percieve people as we do now. So those of you on here talking about everyone else sit back and look at yourselves first and think about how you act and treat other people and then see if you have the right to judge others also. We all tend to do the same as the people we tend to talk about. I live in the south so I see and here about it all the time and it sickens me. I have never been racist but since my boyfriend is Arabic I know what it like to be around people who tend to judge him even though so far out of all the men I have dated he respects me and treats me the best no matter what color he is. God made us all in his image so we should love and appreciate all people on this Earth he has created.

Hey TYRA!!!! I am writing about the show you did on racism. I love the fact that you had the guts to combat this issue head on. I knew as an African American woman in this country that we were the race that is the most descriminated against. I do not like the fact that my Colorful sistas had the nerve to insult the other women of color! How dare a Black woman say that when she sees a Hispanic woman the first thing that she thinks about is her being a maid? Does she not know that a few years ago, our Grandmothers were looked at in that same way? Does she not realize that our Grandmothers had college degrees but the only thing that she could master is how to raise well-behaved rich white kids or iron a good shirt? How dare you look down on anyone in the service industry, a few years ago we were the ones doing those jobs and telling our children that they will do better! I feel like now that we have stepped up a little on the socio-economic status quo alot of my brothers and sisters are forgetting the struggle of yesterday. Don't get too high and mighty and forget were we came from! How dare you look down on anyone whether they be Muslim, Asian, Hispanic, or Black. We are all in this struggle together, and if we could unite like every other race we could make alot more progress!!!!!

I just watched the show on racism and I'd like to share my experance. First of all I am white, I am also a converted Hindu and I perfer to wear Indian/Pakistani clothing. I am sure many people have seen a sari, it's 5-6 yards of fabric draped over the body which orginated in India and has been worn for 5000 years. The other type of outfit I wear is a salwar kameez (spelt differently world wide this is the Indian spelling), this outfit traditionally includes full, baggy pants and a long tunic with a scarf that can be used to cover the head or can just be used for fashion. There are other types of salwar kameez but I tend to stick with the traditional style. The salwar kameez is worn in Indian, Pakistan as well as most of the Middle East. So between the sari's and the salwar kameez I am usually in "ethnic" clothing and I am always proudly wearing my bindi (which mostly Hindu and Sikh women wear the latter to a lesser extent). While wearing a salwar kameez I've had a cheeseburger thrown at me (beef being something that is off limits to most Hindus), while wearing a sari I've had people yell rude and racist comments at me. I've been in a store with my husband and I've had people follow me only to laugh at me. I've walked through the food court at the mall and had the same thing happen. I've definately been a victim of racism and it's never been from a Pakistani, Indian or Middle Eastern person it's been from my own race and one incident was by a group of African Canadians. When I wear a salwar kameez people automatically think that I support the Taliban or some other terrorist group, especially if I happen to put my scarf over my head (to stay warm or to show respect to an elder). It doesn't seem to matter that I have a large red dot in the middle of my forehead because of my dress I am seen as Muslim (which wouldn't be so bad if the treatment of Muslims in North America is appauling). I've had people come up to me and ask "What are you?". I don't mind people coming to talk to me if they are respectful and if they are trying to educate themselves, it's when it's insulting or demeaning to me that it becomes a problem. I've felt more acceptance amoungst Indians then any other group including my own. And it's not as if my own race could be mistaken, my skin is pale white, I have very red hair and blue eyes. My husband always jokes with me that it doesn't take very high intelligence to be racist against clothing, as true at that statement is I find it discusting that I could be treated like this. I've tryed my own experiments. I've gone into store at the mall dressed "western" and I've been waited on rather quickly and the staff were very helpful, I've gone into the same store in Eastern clothing when the same staff are there and I am treated like wallpaper, when someone finally helps me they are short with me and unwilling to help me further. My heart goes out to everyone that wears "ethnic" clothing whether it be Indian, Middle Eastern, Africian or anyone that wears religious clothing such as Islamic clothing, Sikh clothing (eg. turbans)ect.

I would also like to make the point that seems to have been made many times already, whites do get racism (while being "western") from other sources including African American/Canadians. I live in a housing project where the large part of the population is black and I've been centered out and called racist names as well. I just want to know why this is acceptible and yet the word n***** isn't? Racism isn't right from anyone and just because you've been wronged in the past doesn't give anyone the right to continue that type of low behaviour.

Tyra, it was a good show but I saw one group that wasn't represented and that at least here in Canada where I am they are continuiously put down even on the news...Native American/Canadians. They were here before anyone came to these lands and as I've said above, here it's perfectly acceptable to call them "Welfare collecting, alcoholics that steal and burn cars..." I don't know if the situation is the same down there but I am sure there is alot of racisim directed at them too.

The debate in these comments shouldn't be who has it worst because that only causes more fighting and more seperation between people. It doesn't matter how long you've suffered from racism all that matters is that it's happened to you, it hurt you and that you should do whatever you can to stop the cycle. Besides what are you going to win if your race has had it worse? I don't see any medals or trophies being given out and bragging rights on the subject is just childish.

I just wanted to comment on the "Racism: Who Has It Worse?” show, regarding Shayla and her experience. I have been there and experienced the same type of racism she has in her life.
I can honestly say I felt her pain 100%. Being light skinned is not easy. My parents are both black and all four grandparents are black. But more times than not, people assume I am white. I have experienced the prejudices from white people as well as black. I just try to live my life without regard to these people, because I have larger fish to fry. My focus is on finishing college and trying to get a better job. I dont have the energy nor the will to quarrel with ignorance. This was a great show, but most importantly highly informative for those, both black and white, who do not understand or are just plain ignorant.

im a latina teenager that lives in california and i defenetly think that hispanic ppl have it worst. why? because we come from other countries like mexico and salvador. honduras ect. and we come here to get better lives and we dont speak english and if we dont speak english we wont be able to get and understand in school and go to college or get a good job and everything. i really dont think that ppl shoul judge anyone by what color their skin is. i have a "white" friend and shes grown already and everything and yesterday she took me and two other latina friends of mine to hurricane harbor (we paid our way in by the way) and when we were leaving she was talking on her cell phone and she said "yea well im just here with my ex house keppers daughter and some of her friends, i decided ill take them out because their not like the other hispanic kids, and their the kids that their mothers work seven days a week". what do u mean not like other hispanic kids? what is she trying to say? and so what if my mom is a house kepper and works seven days a week and so what if we live in the ghetto because we cant afford to live in beverly hills and malibu and all that who cares!!!!! and so what if we have to hop over the border to get to the united states god didnt create a border in the first place thats something that ppl decide to do which is not correct because this isn't nobodys land this is god's land. "american" ppl just cane out of nowhere took this land away from native americans and did what they wanted with it thats not fair. imagine how the worl will be if there was no border and all the countries were together? there proly woth be all this racism going on. why cant this just stop everyone is the same on the inside forget whats on the outside. everyone eats the same uses the bathroom the same sleeps the same loves the same i just dont see why ppl are racist if everyone is the same!!!!

Hello Tyra,
My husband and I (Mixed Blood Native Americans) wanted to comment about the racism show. We think the concept was great, however, don't think it was well thought out. As many have already stated Native Americans were not involved or even mentioned. This to us is very disturbing. Many have mentioned the horrors our ancestors have had to endure and our brothers and sisters still endure everyday. Tyra, we think you should correct this! My husband and I and believe many other Natives would welcome an apology. The next time you want to tackle this issue make sure all the research is done, all races are included Native Americans, etc(which includes the largely growing mixed races)

Your show also was trying to portray which race has it the worst, in our opinion this title is just cause for more arguments and leads to more hatred against each other. Discrimination is everywhere, in every culture all over the world. Labeling it just ads fuel to the fire.

We need to stop worrying who has it worst. Start educating, break through cultural divides and learn how to live amongst each other and embrace all cultures!

I would like to know why Native American Women where left out of the show. I am so tired of hearing everyone else complain. Ya know what, African Americans where not the only ones who where slaves in this country. Natives where as well and continued to be after slavery ended for Africans. We weren't even considered citizens untill 1924 and we where here before all yall. When we where finaly allowed to vote many tribes had to pay to do so until 1964. Did you know its illegal for anyone with Native American blood to step foot in the city of Boston to this day. Or that the mayor refuses to change the law. Did you Know that only 5 tribes are recognized and considered civial by the US government. If you wanna talk discrimination we can. We have no main stream magazines that represent our culture. No tv stations representing our culture or laguage. Can anyone here name any Native Americans in the main stream media. Terms like savage and redskin are used publicly and no one flinches. There are companies and sports teams out there bearing these names and no one thinks anything of it. How often are you reminded when you go home that the land its built on was stolen from my people that they where murdered over it and forced in to concentration camps and reservations. Where they where starved and murdered for sport. Some tribes where completly wiped out. Others numbes drop dramaticaly.
All I'm tring to say is that not only one race or two has suffered in history.
When yall get all huffy towards white people take into account that you don't know if there irish or german or english or something else. The Irish and German imagrints where inslaved and starved as well as worked for nothing wages and forced to live in neighborhoods that where only for people of there heratige.
Everyone needs to take a step back and not just know what happened to your race in history but what happened to all the others cause evvery race has come through something and going through your life acting like someone ows you something because of your race isn't going to get you or us anywhere.

I would like to know why Native American Women where left out of the show. I am so tired of hearing everyone else complain. Ya know what, African Americans where not the only ones who where slaves in this country. Natives where as well and continued to be after slavery ended for Africans. We weren't even considered citizens untill 1924 and we where here before all yall. When we where finaly allowed to vote many tribes had to pay to do so until 1964. Did you know its illegal for anyone with Native American blood to step foot in the city of Boston to this day. Or that the mayor refuses to change the law. Did you Know that only 5 tribes are recognized and considered civial by the US government. If you wanna talk discrimination we can. We have no main stream magazines that represent our culture. No tv stations representing our culture or laguage. Can anyone here name any Native Americans in the main stream media. Terms like savage and redskin are used publicly and no one flinches. There are companies and sports teams out there bearing these names and no one thinks anything of it. How often are you reminded when you go home that the land its built on was stolen from my people that they where murdered over it and forced in to concentration camps and reservations. Where they where starved and murdered for sport. Some tribes where completly wiped out. Others numbes drop dramaticaly.
All I'm tring to say is that not only one race or two has suffered in history.
When yall get all huffy towards white people take into account that you don't know if there irish or german or english or something else. The Irish and German imagrints where inslaved and starved as well as worked for nothing wages and forced to live in neighborhoods that where only for people of there heratige.
Everyone needs to take a step back and not just know what happened to your race in history but what happened to all the others cause evvery race has come through something and going through your life acting like someone ows you something because of your race isn't going to get you or us anywhere.

Hi Tyra, I just watched your show and it is very true that Racism is still going strong. I am an American Indian of the Carrizo Tribe. Like many other Native Americans here our race is always overlooked. Racism is here in all races. I talk to my children and I tell them to love all people, no matter what race, color or religion they come from. I have friends that are of all races, color or religion and I would fight for them with my every being. We all have had our complications and many of us are still going through racism. We all just need to get over that hill and move forward. I still get racist remarks against me just about everyday but I look past it. What we need to do is instil in our kids that everyone is a person with feelings and that everyone is beautiful. This is America! We need to make America strong and stop all this wrong thinking. It also saddens me that when we are at war for whatever reason, everyone thinks it it okay to be cruel and rude to those people. In today case the Middle eastern descent and the Muslim religion. For World War 2, it was the Japanese. Do we want Racism to stop?? It is up to us AMERICANS to make that change and to stop it now and not pass it on to our kids!!!!! As for now I will pray for the day when Racism ends!

Hi Tyra
I love your show and ANTM show. On the racism show I was wondering why there was no Natives on there?? werent we here first? I dont understand why our people are so LOW on the pedistal and we are considered low class alcoholics and on social assitance. I for one am none of those and I went to school and I have a job and support my children. I also wonder why the First Nations woman with two kids got voted off the show when she had a WAY better picture than CARIDEE or that girl with the hair in her face where you can only see one of her eyes, I am a couple other people found that judgment unfair I hope its not couse she had two kids? but yeah it is making me wonder if natives are meant to stay low in society when we try to succeed we cant and people wont let us, they will hire or pull strings for another race far more superior than Natives to do the job. Alot of native women I know where happy to finally see a native american on the americas next top model show but she was voted off right away that sucked, it was the same with canada's next top model where the "native" was voted off right away too. I guess the model industry is meant for white and black models and other races are not beautiful enough to make it. Well I will continue to love your shows and I thank you for taking into considertion of my opinion. Have a nice day Tyra you rock.

I think when addressing racism in the US many facts concerning the histories of various ethnic Caucasian groups and how they ended up in this country goes ignored. We ignore all the ethnic/racial mixing, forced and not, that has occured in this country over the past 400 or so years.

European history indicates that among caucasians massive genocides and religious pursecution have wiped out millions of ethnic Caucasian populations, at the hand of other Caucasians. This suffering is a big reason why so many arrived here.

The way African and Indigenous people were treated in this country, at it's beginning, is really no more or less significant than all other occurances of ethnic cleansing, diluting, enslavement, genocide that has throughout history. This has occured both at the hands of members of the same race/ethnic group, as well as by members of others. It's part of human nature. It happens and continues to happen, ignored...and perhaps noticed for political or commerical incentive...

Among some of the first waves of Jewish, Italian and Irish immigrants into the US were populations deemed as trash and unworthy in the countries inwhich they departed. Ethnic Italians were also being hung here during their early arrivals. Some of the first Irish settlers to escape the famine in their homeland were treated less than human upon arrival in the US.

It's only after the full scope of the social atmosphere and awareness of how Racial classification is applied across racial bounderies do social practicies and dispositions shift - I think out of fear of not being able to assimilate, as well as out of fear of loosing one's identity. If Irish and Italians never gained the social recognition of being white, they would be black...their specific cultural and social identity, that they were very closely tied to, would have been over looked by being so.

What we experience as being part of a race is a deliberate social construct, that is now embraced by those who were ostracized by it, initially. Racism will continue to exist as long as this system of classification remains valid. Get rid of racial categories; get rid of racism. You will also encourage a deeper understanding of our society both past and present. Race blinds us. Racial labels were invented to breed fear and hatred, and they continue to do so, effectively. Race is a lie.

I see no good reason why two individuals from two seperate races can hate each other based on race when they, most likely, share the same ethnic lineages. Be they forced, or not, they are there.

I recently saw an old video clip of Tina Turner and Cher performing on stage together. Two women, one black and one white, singing/dancing in harmony. When I learned that both women had recent Cherokee ancestry, their racial differences became less contrasting in my mind. Essentially, a part of both of these people came from the same.

We all come from the same, essentially.

First of all, I just want to say that I was only able to read two of the comments posted here. One post in particular hurt immensely (anonymous poster 9-23-06 1:06pm). I was absolutely astonished at some of the things written. The majority of this post I deem to be racist; however the end of the post is particularly racist by stating that "whites have a superiority complex and that everything that was and is wrong in the world can be attributed to whites." Is that not racist towards whites? I think so. I'm a white woman and completely resent that statement. I'm proud of my heritage just as you are with yours. I completely agree that African Americans should learn about their heritage not only in the month of February but in every other month. However, I also believe that Asians, Latinos, Middle Easterners, Whites, and any other race should be able to enjoy that same freedom. Why should other races not have that same right to learn about their culture and heritage?

Yes, in the United States, African Americans have been oppressed for a long time. All throughout history, each race in some way has been oppressed racially; its not right and its not fair but it has happened. However, nothing can be done about the past. All that we can do as the Human Race, is to remember the atrocities that occurred not only to African Americans in the United States but of all racial oppression over the centuries and millennia. We must look to the future and the ways in which we can all change the mental perception of race. Its pigment in the skin; that's it. Just because I don't have a lot of pigment doesn't make me superior to you, but it doesn't make me less of a human. Society can change but there must be a few strong persons to lead the way. Truly, be proud of your race and your heritage but also be more proud that you're a part of the Human Race; we must stand UNITED as a part of this Human Race and not pigment-motivated race. God bless.

hello everyone!! i first would like to say before hand if a offend anyone i am truly sorry!! i feel as if opinions matter to help one another become a better person!! i just saw the tyra show today and it was a re-run of the racism show. i feel as if there is no specific race that gets it worst!! the show said that african americans had it worst because of the past history! yes, it was a tragedy of what happened but it happened so long ago! if we can learn to just move on and forget the past maybe we wouldnt have so much racism!! everyone emphasizes on what happened so many years ago that its just like yes there was pain and it was horrible but has anyone in the 21 century experienced that kind slavery!! of coarse there is slavery still going on today but when someone is going through a hard time the best thing to do is move on instead of emphasizing on what happend so long ago! i know many of you must think..."you dont know you never lived it" but have you??? i feel as if this is just an excuse or simply just a saying..oh its because im black!! i see the sufferment and tradegy that every race goes through everyday. i am a 16 year old salvadorean and mexican. ive stayed in mexico (not in a hotel) for about a month and i couldnt believe how hard life is!! people from this background come to this country for a better life and work for jobs that no other race wants!!! and all they get is wet backs, beaners and strawberry pickers! it hurts me because i am in a relationship with someone that lives in mexico, and it hurts me everyday that he can never come to this country because he doesnt have his papers!! and you cand just say.. well why doesnt he get them?? its so difficult!! hes been trying for about a year now and its such a long process!! and it all comes down to if the person likes you he/ she will give it to you!i just wish that people now a days will start to realize the present and not the past!!! as for the the people who are islamic i feel that they have suffered a lot recently because of what happend in 9/11 and i just want to say that i honestly have so much respect to the islamic religion because they continue there religion and they dont let this racism change who they are, and i can honestly say i respect that!

Hi there,
I was actually sitting here doing research on racism and discrimination towards Native women. Now honestly, out of all the sites i viewed, i never saw this much anger and name calling towards each other on ANY other webpage. I agree with one of the posts below, why should we let people discriminate against us, it doesn't affect who we are or what we believe in. And by posting on this site , another rude comment towards another race, do you suppose it will end? I know for certain in wont. Your upping the anti and building a fire. I AM 19 AND I KNOW THIS! Please, we as women are discriminated against EVERY DAY. Do we need to gang up on each other and hurt each other. NO. We need to work together to ensure equality! Please, peace makes life easier. Embrace the fact that you are a woman!

Dear Tyra
I have posted a few comments already but I would also like to add to the racism some Native Canadians face especially when we are shopping. When I go into a high price store with more expensive clothes, when I go in there or a some friends and I (being Native) I do not get helped. The ladies in the store will ignore me and keep serving the white women that go in there, I will ask for a size or if they have more shirts in a different color. Nope they will ignore or look at me like "what are you doing in here?" I really annoyes me because I decided to test out the store. I brought my white friend Tricia to the store and I walked in behind her and I asked for help first and the lady ignored me, Tricia on the other hand asked for help and the lady helped her right away, Tricia got mad at the lady and said she doesnt want any of that stores products if they are ignorant to people who are not white. So if a native walks in the expensive store they are just ignored?? we are so low on the pedal that we dont matter and our feelings are nothing, our ancestors were in residential school and raised their kids (us) abusively?? people forget about Natives because we dont matter to them.

I have to comment about something one of the "experts" on the racism episode said---he said that geneticists were proving that there were no genetic differences between races. As a geneticist (specifically cancer research), I would like to say that is NOT true, and we can see this in certain medical conditions as an example: sickle-cell anemia is more prevalent among African-Americans than other races. Osteoporosis is more common in Caucasian and Asian women than other races. There is a medication that was tested recently for a medical condition that worked for the African-American patients they tested it on, but it had no measurable effect on other races---and then the media tried to turn it into medical racism! The truth is that each ethnic group has certain medical conditions that are more prevalent among one or two of the races than the others, and if there is a drug that has a better effect for one race than another, then by all means we should be able to give this medication to the people it will help and not have to worry about others throwing a fit and calling it racist. The genetic and other differences (skeletal, etc) between the races DON'T make any race inferior to any other race, but it does have different effects on each race medically that we can't always ignore if we are to help treat these conditions.

I cannot believe the show I just saw!! I am white and proud, but not racist. I think that everyone should have pride in their backgrounds, but more pride that they are americans regardless of the race. I also think that you should have included whites...I think that it showed racism on the shows part not to include them. I also think that it is sad the there is such a double standard, why can't we get a scholarship for school just because we're white, white can't we have people to protect us just because we're white. I think white people are dicriminated against, but why did you talk only about race?I have been discriminated against because I am a woman, but more because I am from the south, I have a strong accent and most people automatically decide from that that I am stupid. I have been called backward, redneck, and been asked to repeat myself so people can laugh at the way I talk more times than I can count, but you just looked over that and I think that is wrong. I wish we would just let racism die and until we stop making such a big deal of it it won't, and also until we realize that blacks, latinos, asains, and arabs are discrimnated again it won't happen.

I am responding to Anonymous on Sept 23 at 1:06pm. Abraham Lincoln did "have" to write the Emancipation Proclaimation for his political agenda. It did not, however, free the slaves. The Proclaimation provided the slaves were only to be freed to enlist in the military on the Union side. Though some slaves did sign up for the military, how many confederate slave owners were really going to release their slaves to fight for the opposing army? It took three amendments to the Constitution before blacks were legally "free."

I would like to respond to Lacey's statement on September 18. You need to check you history again. Yes, there were slaves everywhere, but nowhere but the Americas, North, South, Central and the West Indies was race carried out quite like in this region. You have to consider the value systems in the countries involved in the slave trade. In Spain and France, slaves were still considered people, though treated as a child or other dependant. Slavey was not necessarily indefinite. It was to pay a debt, serve time for a crime, etc. Similar setups occured throughout Africa before and during colonialism. In England, though slaves were considered property, not human, not possessing a soul. This is the mentality that was brought to the West Indies and what is now the United States. This is the mentality that allowed the Africans that were imported (not migrated)to be exploited as they were.

I would like to respond to a comment made by your race expert concerning why "black" is considered "inferior." She stated that it stemmed from the initial encounter with Africa in the 14th century. This is inaccurate. There was successful trade with northern Africa with Spain and Portugal for a long time. There were Moors, who were black, living and trading in the areas of Portugal and Spain before nationalistic values were in place in these areas. When Spain, France and Portugal became states is when the Africans, as well as other groups, such as the Portuguese Jews were forced out of those areas. By the time France became a state, the "black codes" or code noir was enforced. Even then France was more concerned with being a "Frenchmen" ie wearing the clothes, speaking the language. Truth be told, east African countries had been doing business with the Middle East and Asia long before colonial rule. I just wanted to make this clarification. Thank you.

Thankyou for representing all races. I feel as though everyone is descriminated against at some point in their lives in some way. A lot has to do with the location that you are in at the time in which you are getting that sort of response. I an white and I grew up in Hawaii. I had many experiences when I was not considered for a job because I was white. I went with a Hawaiian friend of mine to get a job application at a local grocery store. The Asian manager looked me up and down and said we are out of apps right now. I didnt think anything of it until my Hawaiian friend went in right after me and was handed an application. I looked everywhere for a job for 6months daily. A local surf shop interviewed me and said that they are looking for someone more local. A local McDonalds manager interviewed me and said "We are looking for someone who is going to stick around the island." meaning I was white so I wasnt going to live in Hawaii my whole life. When I would go to the beach in Hawaii certain beaches you go to the local people harass me by going up to me and saying I dont belong there and the "haole" girl needs to just go home. (Haole means foriegner, but is used to describe a white person in the same way the N word is used) I feel that girls pain because if I bring up white racism people who are not white just laugh and think the idea is rediculous. We are not a privelaged race, in fact we are more descriminated against than most people think. I feel like I shouldnt be able to be proud because I am white, but a latina woman is praised for having pride in her race. This double standard is very hurtful to me because I feel like I have to prove to EVERYONE of a different race every time that I meet them that I am not racist based on my skin color. It is assumed that I am racist, but I have encountered and heard just as much racism from white people as I have from black or latino or asian. I feel unconfortable and unwelcomed in certain social situations because I am the one being looked at in a negative way.

To respond to the last comment made by anonomous. Everything is not handed to white people and I do not know where that notion came from. I make very little money, less than 10,000 per year.. and I applied to a few colleges trying to make a better life for me and my son. I was turned down for financial aid because I make too much money. The government was willing to give me $500/ per semester and each semester costs over $3000. I can NOT afford this at all. Two different school counsilors at seperate schools both asked me if I had any ethnic background at all so that I could get additional financial aid. I was shocked! Because I am white I can not get help into school, I must take out loans which I can not do because my debt is already large trying to take care of my family. Its just as hard for whites as it is for any other race at some times it is harder. I understand and I know that a lot of black, latino, muslim, native american, and asian people get the brunt of racism often. It sickens me. The point I am trying to make is this: Do not laugh, make light of, or dismiss racism against white people. The first step to peace is knowledge and understanding. Asking you to put yourself in a white persons shoes might be a joke to you, but think about my situation. I am struggling too and I dont get any help from this so called "white society." Im not asking for a hand out, just some help getting myself on my feet so that I can support my family.

I have to chime in with the "where were the Native Americans?" comments. Glad to see so many others have made this same remark. I'm so tired of shows dealing with racism and not mentioning Native Americans. To date, I have never seen a show that includes Native Americans when talking about racism. If you want to be a trailblazer, why not do an entire show on Native American life in the USA.

I am a 35 year old “new yorican”. I am proud of my Puerto Rican heritage. I am proud of the country that not only saw my birth but is responsible for the education I have obtained. To say that the “boricuas” have it worst than any would be a bold fast lie. To say that any other race has it would be as well. What I could say from the history taught to me in this country is this: African-Americans were forced to come to this country to work with out just pay for others. Native-Americans were stripped from their land, pushed to “reservations” in order to preserve this “country”. The history of Asian-Americans and their experience in this nation is relatively unknown. The Caucasian experience in this country though very document is not necessarily accurate. When the Irish arrived to this country they were viewed as “cheap labor”. Sounds familiar doesn’t it (Hispanic maids, black slaves etc.). Even today when you hear of an Italian the first thing that comes to mind is the mafia but that is not entirely who they are. Ring the bell (Black thugs, Hispanic gang members etc)? The one thing that upsets me is the ignorance. How can I defend a heritage I do not know entirely? How can others understand or relate to the disparities and the injustices in others when I do not understand my own? Let’s look at the mirror and speak truthfully to that individual. I have had to overcome so many wrongful prejudgments of my own. THANK GOD FOR A COUNTRY WHERE MANY HERITAGES ARE REPRESENTED. I have been exposed to many races in this lifetime. Europeans, African-American, Hispanics, Asians, Mid-Easterns, Native Americans and so many more (I apologize for not mentioning them all.). I have learned to value and respect humanity for its diversity. Imagine an ice cream shop with only one flavor (DULL!). Imagine a painting with only one color (otherwise known as colored paper). Even a painting emphasizing a particular color must have a contrast to be appreciated. YES, there is racial discrimination in this country. (News Flash it happens in every country.) The Muslim woman spoke about her hardships as a Muslim but I have yet herd in the news of a Muslim lynching. History has shown us the cruelty of humanity but it also can show its beauty and strength. The first non-citizens to fight for the United States were actually white. We speak of the languages the United States have represented in their heritage; i.e. English, French, Spanish etc. but rarely hear of the languages that originally were spoken here by the Native Americans. Fredrick Douglas stated once, “Education is the key”. I strongly agree. Let us be open to one another. We do not have to agree to everything, but we can respectfully listen and give others the opportunity to express themselves as the first constitutionally numerated right, allows. No one race has had it worse in a manner of speaking; history has shown us however, that the two who have experienced it longer are Native-Americans and African-Americans. That can not be argued. It is a well documented fact. African-Americans have demonstrated to be an asset and a positive contribution to a nation that forced them to come. Like it or not they are here to stay! As for America for Americans are concerned, if that were true then the first to go are all of those of white descent. Let us not speak in ignorance. There are many truths mixed in the stereotyping however they are not truthful to all who apply. I realize this “sermon” is way late compared to the voices of others written. Being that I am free to speak, even though I am late, I just saw to it to express myself and hopefully enlighten someone. ANYONE. Peace. Love. (No I am not a hippy). AJ

Tyra,

I have already posted a similar letter on the blog and I am awaiting approval for post, but anyway.... this show REALLY upset me. Especially the panel member that told the middle eastern lady to 'bounce' because she wasn't forced to came here like the African-Americans. I am going to state this again.....( I apologize if I offend anyone but....)SLAVES WERE NOT STOLEN FROM AFRICA. The African government sold and traded their people. Food, Weapons and Fur were more important to them than their own people. Do I agree with slavery.......NO. I have 2 children that would probably be working in fields right now if that was the case. But that happened over a century ago, let it go.

Discrimination happends to everyone nowadays depending on where you are. I am in an interracial relationship with biracial children. I am white. I have lost jobs because of this. I am not accepted by some people in my race because I am a 'traitor'. I am not accepted by his family because 'I am cool, but I am white'. My family loves him. They think he is great.Kind of backwards, huh?

My point being......know and love yourself for who and what you are. Embrace your heritage. If you don't get a job because of the color of your skin, so what????? Do you really want to work their anyway??
I know I don't want to work for anyone who HATES like that. ALL RACES.......get over yourself.......EVERYONE IS DISCRIMINATED AGAINST. I got treated horribly in Memphis. I smiled and said thank you AND MADE THE HATERS BE POLITE. I could have been a victim, but why??? They have the problem, I don't. I am sure I ruined their day before they ruined mine.

Keep on feeding into the racism if you want to..... I am not.... I am going to kill 'em with kindness. Hopefully others can start doing the same.

I just want to say that I am extremely upset that the black girl on this episode was the basic stereotype of an ignorant black person. Not ALL black people think like that and not ALL black people are that angry. What she said was just ridiculous to me. Yes, our people have been discriminated against for 200 years, but SHE hasn't been. She hasn't been alive for 200 years to feel all of that pain. How would she know what African slaves went through unless she was an African slave? We have to get past all of what happened in the past and focus on changing the future.

I think this was an eye opener from some people...racism is everywhere, but what brothers me most about this forum, is that you failed to inculed "Native Americans"....Do feel bad most people do. Yes, there are still indains alive. We have always been over looked....and yet we were the first people that felt the pain from racism, even before salverly....I a lot of people used the comments educate yourself, how can you over look the naitve ameicans, in history and today. Next time you have a show about racism could you inculed "Native Americans"...This could be a show in it self......

I was very dissapointed the forgotten race was not mentioned. I'm talking about the native american race. At one time we lived all across this continent, now we do not make up 2% of the population. Genocide was commited against our people, and ethnic cleansing continues. Most reservations are desolate, alcohol and tobacco are dicounted. Some of the reservations resemble the shanty towns of the deep south, when share cropping was a staple for freed slaves. We are still made a mockery of by sport teams, when they use names like redskin or gawdy stereotype characters. Like Chris Rock asked, when was the last time you seen a family of native americans chilling at a red lobster.

Dear Tyra,

I am a white woman in my 40's married to a black man. Originally from northern NY, I didn't know about racism until I was a teenager and moved to the deep south. I was watching your show today and noticed that there was one very noticable ommission from your audience. The native american....What happened to them? I heard people complaining about how they are looked at differently because of their skin color and while I acknowledge that it happens, we have an entire race living here that is on reservations, and if you go deep into these, you will find people living in shacks you can see daylight through the walls. That are still losing what land they were "given" because our government wants the mineral resources or something else it has on it. Their children were taken away from them and shipped off to a school that the government decided they should go. The parents had no say whatsoever! They were not allowed to speak their native language, practice their customs or teach them to their children. Their child's hair was cut and they were told to forget that they were Native American, and their Nations customs.( ie..apache, commache, crow, blackfoot ect) It is disturbing to me that in 2006 we still have people whining about how they are oppressed and held back, because of their color or skin tone. Yes, it happens, yes it needs to stop, but it is on all sides of the spectrum not just one, and to hear the comment one of the audience members made about her ancestors coming over in chains, it happened, yes, but people seem to forget that even before slaves were brought to america, the africans were enslaving each other, this was not right either, so if you are going to bring up slavery please bring all of it up. None of this is the right way for humans to respond to one another, nor is it the way to stop racism. I don't have the answers on how to accomplish this, but it seems to me that instead of concentrating on what happened 200 yrs ago, and keeping the anger and hatred going, lets look at today and how far we have come. We have a long way to go yet, but we have started. I get tired of hearing I'm black and poor so it is okay for me to steal, murder, sell drugs or whatever else they wish to do, because the whites are keeping my people poor. I too am poor and the community I grew up in is poor, well below the poverty level, it is not inner city, but in my way of thinking that shouldn't matter, poor is poor, no matter the color, religion, or sexual orientation. We didn't find it necessary to steal from our neighbors or sell drugs to their children or have drive by shootings. Today in this world we have too many people wanting what someone else has, but not wanting to work hard to get it. Be happy with what you have and strive to be more, it is no sin to be poor, but we as americans as a whole have decided that somehow it should be. We have people in some parts of this country that have no running water, no heat, and barely a roof over their heads. Oprah recently did a show on poor america, and I was appalled that anyone has to live this way. Wake up America, it is not all about you as an individual race , work together, poor, rich, middle class work together, make this country something we all can be proud of, because right now we have too many people whining and not enough trying to improve their situation. It is easier to cry about it.

My husband and I have been looked at and looked down on by both races white and black. Racism will stop when we as parents stop teaching it to our children, and start encouraging acceptance instead. Have a bi-racial box on birth certificates, because today more people are of more than one race, than those that are just one nationality.

Hi Tyra, first let me say thank you for doing a show about racism and having american people of different backgrounds and religon.It was a very powerful show I was so shocked to see that african americans (of which I am) can be close minded as well when it comes to people from different cultures or backgrounds ,and I think it is because that we have dealt with racism and stereotypes for so long that we just automatically assume that this group is another way and this group is that way .Watching the show today really hit home for me because I tend to see someone from another race and assume things about them when I dont know them so that gave me a big wake up call myself .Tyra I know you have a hefty schedule but if you could I would like for you to do a follow up show and have the two doctors on as well .I know it probably wouldnt make a big difference like change the whole world or anything like that but maybe it would just let people know that racism is out here and maybe we could learn from each other and learn to love one another I am tired of seeing that we have beautiful women,men and children in american whom most have different backgrounds not getting along just because the color of the skin or different religion GOD says to love everyone and I am a big believer in that though I'm not perfect I just want everyone to just look beyond color and other nonsense. Well Tyra iI am not going to take up to much of your time but I love you girl and love the show you are a "PHENOMENAL WOMAN" keep up the good work and stay blessed peace!

I just watched your show about racism (sept. 25 2006). It made me so sad, it is 2006. We need to realize that this is America we are all of different ethnic backrounds. We need to stand up as one country hold hands together and be proud to be in the land of the free.
I am a 31 year old white woman. I am VERY proud to say that race does not matter to me what is inside is what counts, and I am raising my children to think the same way. No matter what race you are there are good and bad people.
I believe that as parents it is our job and responsibilty to make sure are children grow up to realize that everyone is to be valued and respected no matter what race. We all bring differnts values and beliefs..that is what makes America so special. Just think of how life would be if we all had the same beliefs, skin color, hair color, ect life would be so boring. To every race in the world be proud of who you are..You will always have a place in my heart!!

Thank you
Kristina

I just wanted to say that I surprised to not see Native Americans on this show. We as a people have been here since the begining. We were the first to be discriminated against and we continue to be. "They are Native so they Live on a reservation, They are Native so they are poor and live off of well-fare, They live in a tee-pee and know how to shoot a bow." The Native American People had their land TAKEN from them...We wern't brought here...we were forced to give up our land. America has forgotten where this land has come from. Who was here at the begining. It wasn't the pilgrams who started America. It was the Lakota, Chippewa, Apache, Ojibway. To not see my people on this show just proves to show how much we are discriminated against.

I am a white woman. I think that it is ridiculous and ignorant to say that white history is taught every other month. Its not about "white" history. It is this country's history. If you lived in Africa and were taught history do you think it wouldn't be black history all the months??

I am a biracial person, being from both Russian and African-American descent. I live in a predominantly white building in New York City. I do not represent either of the races of my parents, throughout my years I have mainly been assumed as Latina. I get underestimated alot, mostly by my college professors the most. The part of being underestimated, that I like is showing people that I have intelligence and I am not what they think I am. And though I know I am not perfect and far from completely accepting of other peoples, I at least know my history. I am sitting here watching the show on racial stereotypes, and I am fuming mad. The African-American woman who commented on the Arab woman and was talking about the history of slavery needs to get her facts straight and read a history book. I would really like to confront her about what she knows and believes. What she needs to realize is that America gave the middle Eastern countries the materials, knowldge and technology to use and make those guns and bombs that they use to kill others. Slavery did not start when America was colonized or with Africans. Slavery began in the Mediterranean region, where the first civilizations were. Slaves were initially, people who could not pay off their debt to land owners. This means that the people from the Mediterranean enslaved their own people. History states that, yes Africans and African-Americans have been oppressed, but that is only a blip in the long history of human beings. Not only have many people of Muslim descent have been oppressed also, but they have the strength to band together and fight for the survival of their religion and their culture, in a world where American influences are widespread and spreading even further. Although many different people of different races are underestimated and discriminated against on a daily basis, everyone has experiences and emotions that have similarities and those should be the things that people pay attention to, not what they wear their religion is, where they live or where they're from.

wow. I just turned on the rerun of this episode, and I couldn't even watch it I was so horrified. call me sheltered, but it amazes me that there are still so many ignorant people out there. I grew up in an upper middle class family in the suburbs outside NYC. Granted, most of the population is white... but I still have understanding and respect for other races - and do not make snap judgements about people from just looking at them. I realize all stereotypes are based on a bit of truth, but the reality is - especially in a country like America - anyone of any race, background, monetary status can be anything they want to be if they have the passion for it.

I applaud EUR for their efforts - and hopefully in the near future, rasism will no longer exist.

Dear Tyra,
I am a 36 year old white woman who grew up in a very small town. There were 4 blacks in my high school of about 400 students, but you know no one treated them any differently than they did anyone else. Actually they were very popular. I believe that is because they never used the race card. They never said, "Well we were slaves so we deserve special privledges" They never tried to intimidate anyone, they were just like everyone else. And they were treated as such.
Why cant anyone just realize regardless of race, religion, sex, or creed, we all BLEED RED! We all love, we all hurt, we all laugh, and smile. We are all of the same race, the HUMAN RACE!! Once everyone starts to realize that then the world would be a better place.
It doesnt matter what happened hundreds of years ago. What matters is now. We all have the same oppurtunities. Who cares if there is a Black Pride Month, more power to them. I just wish the slavery card wouldn't keep coming up, you cant use it anymore. Look at all the important black people of today. They are lawyers, senators, congressmen, judges, police officers,etc. Nothing is holding them back now so stop using it as an excuse. Do like the rest of us do blame it on your parents.

Dear Tyra
I being a Canadian Native, I get looked at all the time. I do like it when Natives are labelled as drunks and welfare bums. People will just look at natives and lable them before they even get to know them, I wonder if it just scares them that our people are starting to heal from the residential school and we are "becomming" normal people but they want to keep us in the gutter. I know Native American females are beautiful, people compliment on native girls all the time, in yet we are labelled or harassed. Alot of people will try to make themself feel better by calling us ugly and trashy looking and they dont want to admit we are just like everyone else. They want to keep us low to the ground and dont want to see us succeed, but that just pushed me more to prove them wrong. I may not dress in the top name brand clothes but I do dress ok, and people look at us like "how can they afford those clothes" than they get more ignorant when they see first nations women dressing nice or even better than them, we are hard working and not all of us are on welfare or drunks but we get called that even though the person doesnt even know us. I noticed those two native american girls got knocked off the show even though they had better pictures than a few of them. I liked that native american girl with two kids her picture was better than that girl with the hair all in her face where you can only see her one eye and the native american picture was better than Michelles picture, she also had a killer body after two kids. But things like that were we do things better and we are still not supported and in the gutter, Have only seen black and caucasion females win the compitition. It would be nice to see Chinese, Indian or even a Native American win the compition as there are plenty of cacasion models. We need more cultures in the model industry to show that other cultures are just as successful and beautiful. The last season I think that Joanie should have won because she looked different in every picture whereas Danielle looked the same and not much variety she had the same facial expression. I love watching your show and will continue to be a faithful veiwer, Take care

Hi Tyra
Alot of people face racism everyday. I am Native and people look at me because I dress nice and dress my kids nice and what not, but I think they are just shocked because native people have been labelled as "welfare or drunks" But I have worked hard to get where I am at with graduating from high school, college and landed two jobs. I get annoyed people keep trying to bring Native Americans down and they lable us before they give us a chance, I hope someday (and this might be wishful thinking) that we all will see more famous Native Amercans like actors or signers instead of being stuck in the gutter and labelled before they give us a chance, and that we are not alcoholic drunks who are on welfare and that there a small portion of us that work for what we have. I dont mean to repeat myself but I do not like it when people look at me weird because I dress nice.

Why can't we all just get along? Why do we have to use labels? Recently, in a multicultural studies class, a discussion ensued regarding the Asian slur beginning with "O." Many Asians find that term quite offensive. I brought it to the attention of the class and within 48 hours, the term appeared on my car.

My point is: Can we not be recognized for our good or bad without being assigned a race, religion, ethnicity?

Hi Tyra
I am a 15 year old south african girl who is personally highly diverse, I'm called a 'coconut' nearly everyday of my life by my friends and family. My mum raised me to understand that it doesnt matter what race or culture you are and that we are all unique yet the same but at the end of the day she says I should stop trying to be white and that I should realise I never will be. I just want to tell people that not only does it hurt to be called names, but it haunts them and they start questioning their personalities and start living the way people want them to live; which is not right.

Hi Tyra,
Your segment on racism was nice.Indians were not included in this. And why was the asian girl offended because she was considered the smart one? It is a compliment that asians do well in school and succeed. Iam an Indian and I used to get teased at and sometimes set apart from the white girls in my all-white elementary school. Today Iam a doctor at the age of 25 and I recently saw a girl from my elementary school who is in a much mUCH lower position than Iam in my hospital. She recognized me and talked to me. I was polite but at the same time I knew the things she had said to be before. ASIANS HOLD YOUR HEAD HIGH !!!!! People think we are smart...cuz we ARE !!!

I tivo the Tyra Banks show every day and have just watched the show on racism. I am a 33 year old white female living in Memphis,TN and I was appauled by the comments made on this show. I think I watched the entire show with my mouth wide open. What is wrong with people? I would never and I mean never say the things that I heard on this show. This is what is wrong with our country, every race is racist. I'm so sick of hearing everyone complaining and saying awful things about PEOPLE! Ending racism starts within yourself, treat others how you want to be treated and you will find life alot easier. Don't look at me, a white female and judge me and think that I am racist because I'm not. Approach everone with an open mind and you will find a whole world of loving, color blinded PEOPLE!

Hello this is the person that responded to the anonymous comment posted 9-22-06 at 4:30 p.m. I just wanted to say that I realize that I mis-pelled a few words. For instance complaining, I clicked on the post before I read my comment, and I couldn't edit my comment after I clicked on post. Sorry, I am really an excellent speller.

This is for the anonymous comment posted September 22,2006 at 4:34 p.m.
First I would just like to say that its okay to have "white pride", but there is a history of so called white pride being associated with and racism and violence. I would like to also say that when and if you are called whitey is probaly by a elite few blacks, and you are white so whats the problem. How many times have you heard a group of black people hanging a white person, raping little white girls, setting white people on fire, stretching a white persons limb out on a tree, shooting white people, beating, and etc, while yelling out the word whitey, snow bunny, redneck, and etc. You haven't heard of very many instances if any at all. Now how many tmes have you heard of white people using the word nigger while commiting all the above acts and certainly more against black people. The word nIgger or n*gga means ignorance, but it is now and will forever more be tied to racism when used by a white people towards black people. If a black person says to you hey "whitey" if it makes you feel better respond by saying hey "blackey". As far as the black colleges are concerned, there are white people in attendance at black colleges. Any college that is not a black college is a "white college". White people are the majority and I'm sure that some do secretly discriminate. As far as the Black Chamber of Commerce and the NAACP goes, white people don't need any of that because everything is handed to them. As far as the Million March is concerned, the KU Klux Klan has been marching for centuries, and they are full of hatred and violence. As for black history month, it happens to be the shortest month of the year, and students are forced to learn white history any other time in school, even though its a bunch of lies. While you are complaing about there being black this, and Mexican that, tell me why all of the Presidents so far have been White! And would you even consider voting for a non-white President, especially a black man.

I am so tired of white people commenting and crying about Martin Luther King Day, The NAACP, Martin Luther King Holiday, Bloack Colleges, and Black History Month. White History month is taught in school everyday. Other nationalaties are constantly being lied to about the great white historians. So if black people are allowed to have the shortest month of the tear to learn about themselves then so be it. Black people need to hear about the greatness of their ancestors because white people would like for blacks to know nothing good about their race and ancestors. Black people were the first people, civilization traces back to Africa. Black people have a history of kings, queens, strength and just all around intelligence. White people have Christopher Columbus day, they celebrate the birthday of Abraham Lincoln, and many others. What have these people done to deserve a holiday. Columbus was a murderer,rapist,thief, and is responsible for the many of diseases that exist today. What did Lincoln do so great? Okay so he freed the slaves. He had to write the emancipation proclamation and free the slaves. That devil didn't do that out of the kindness of his heart. Oh and don't even talk to me about black violence, because it was Marco Polo that discovered gun powder from the Chinese and turned its use into evil and violent purposes. Yes black on black crime is very high, because many blacks have not broke their mental chains. Physically blacks are "free" but mentally black people have a long way to go. This all dates black to slavery when "masta" divided and conquered black people, and put black people against each other. Iys okay for white people to have "white pride" but white people have a history of associating "white pride" with racism and violence against other ethnicities. Thats the difference between black pride and "white pride". I could go on and on, but I won't. I will finish for now by saying this white people had and still has a superiority complex and they are far from superior to anyone. Until this chages there will always be racism. So technically what I am saying is that everything that was and is wrong with the world can in some way be attributed back to WHITE PEOPLE!

The only way to end racism is to accept the fact that it exists, and just get the hell over it. There's no way you can change someone else's opinion. It has to come from their own hearts. If you spend your life constantly thinking that everyone around you hates you because of your race (or your weight, or crooked nose, etc.), you'll end up being in a self made prison! You will also start to hate those other people because of your false perceptions. Not every white person hates non whites. I am a mix of races (italian, Yugoslavian, German, Welsh, and French)but everyone just sees "white". most of my friends are Chinese, and it really is sad to hear how much they hate white people. For some reason they consider me a "good " white person, maybe because I just love them for who they are and I wouldn't even care what race they are! But it still bothers me when they bash whites right in front of my face, I just think it shouldn't matter. My parents never said anything bad about any other races when I was growing up, but my grandfather did. I never understood why he was so stupid about that! I found every race and culture to be so different and beautiful in it's own way. I just wish others could not place so much importance on race, because who cares what color you are?! it's the person you are that counts. It really all boils down to looks. People are judged on their looks, whether it be the clothes they wear, their skin color, the way they wear their hair, if t hey're fat, or thin. It's just the way our brains were wired. It's like dating - you probably wouldn't want to go out with someone that struck you as UGLY when you first meet, but then after you get to know them and see who they are inside, you could think they were the most beautiful person in the world!
If we don't take things so personally, we will all enjoy a much happier life!! That's how we can be free of racism. Don't let it take over your mind!

hey tyra i'm only 13 but i hav always been against racism.its like every time i step outside everything is the same its a world repeating it self. every time i walk past a neighbourhood i see it happening in so many different ways. sometimes its not even the case of you being black or white sometimes it might be the case of being from a different country. its just a game for the racists but its life for the inicents. its like a school with bullies execept some people grow out of it as they get older but some people get used to it. its like a drug of pain at one point they get used to it so much they decide to use guns. i have never felt the pain as much as the poeple who have but if its the same as what i see every day its unbareable i have seen the pain that they go through and it kills me inside that people accept racism as part of their life .it just hurts so much waching a person walking down the street and suddenly you hear "hey you nigger" you turn around and they hop on you and beat you up untill you end up dead.and i'm kind of proud of a lot of people now that they understand that its bad and they get involed with BAN RACISM COMMITY that i started a year ago .it just gives me a warm feeling inside to know that people do care other than myself.thanks tyra for the show and pointing out that thanks.

Tyra you hit the core of racism! You brought issues that surface daily out on the floor and united your audience and guest at the end of your show. Yes it's sad to say "Racism" is very much alive,focusing on how Racism continues to control and destroy the lives of many across the nation. All races have encountered and suffered from racism, until people can accept all walks of life (people of all color) racism will remain a major issue globally. Tyra you brought your audience together that was awsome, I enjoy watching your shows!!!

The show on racism was interesting. It always get everyone talking and thinking about themselves. God made us all different and we must respect those difference. This world we live in today is because a certain race did not want to see Afrcan Americans progress. A race that does not see us as equals.African American were in slavery for years and I dont know of any other race that was in slavery for the amount of time we were. We are still kept down but in more settled ways. Education, jobs and housing and I could go on. We are a strong race because we don't give up and have came along way. Each race have good and bad but we are always looked at in a negative light when you read or hear about us on the news commiting a crime.

We must teach our children to respect the difference in people and not to judge people by their color of skin but until adults stop passing their negative belief to their children we will never end racism.

Hello,
I really liked your show about racism, but i have a question. Why didn't you have any jewish people? Jews have been hated for many years. I am a jewish young woman who has been faced with a lot of racism just because of the fact that i am jewish, so how can you forget one of the most commonly hated races? I would really like for you to answer this question.
Thanks!

Tyra
Racism is a horrible thing but you no what black,white,ect.. it's all just a color god made us all the same everyone needs to remember that. everyone has feelings and skin is just a color reguardless.
ayala bish

Someone else besides me finally said it. how many are actually paying attention to this?

There are African Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian
Americans, Arab Americans, Native Americans, ect. and then there are just Americans.

You pass me on the street and sneer in my direction. You
call me "Whiteboy," "Cracker," "Honkey," "Whitey,"
"Caveman" and that's OK.

But when I call you, Nigger, Kike, Towelhead, Sand-nigger, camel Jockey, Beaner, Gook, or Chink you call me a
racist.

You say that whites commit a lot of violence against you,
so why are the ghettos the most dangerous places to live?

You have the United Negro College Fund.
You have Martin Luther King Day.
You have Black History Month.
You have Cesar Chavez Day.
You have Yom Hashoah
You have Ma'uled Al-Nabi
You have the NAACP.
You have
BET.

If we had WET(White Entertainment Television) we'd be
racists.
If we had a White Pride Day you would call us racists.
If we had White History Month, we'd be racists.
If we had any organization for only whites to "advance"
our lives, we'd be racists.

We have a Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, a Black Chamber of Commerce, and then we just have the plain Chamber of Commerce.
Wonder who pays for that?

If we had a college fund that only gave white students
scholarships, you know we'd be racists. There are over 60 openly proclaimed Black Colleges in the US, yet if there were "White colleges"
that would be a racist college.

In the Million Man March, you believed that you were
marching for your race and rights. If we marched for our race and rights, you would call us racists.

You are proud to be black, brown, yellow and orange, and
you're not afraid to announce it. But when we announce our white pride, you call us racists.

You rob us, carjack us, and shoot at us. But, when a white
police officer shoots a black gang member or beats up a black
drug-dealer running from the law and posing a threat to society, you call him a racist.

I am proud. But, you call me a racist.

Why is it that only whites can be racists?

There is nothing improper about this email.

Let's see which of you
are proud enough to forward it.

Hello Tyra,
I'm a 19 yr old Tohono O'odham, Native American from Tucson,Arizona.
Just like other Natives I too was shocked that you did not inclued Natives on your show to see who has it worst.

I would like to comment to Jennifer,the white muslim lady w/2 kids, who had posted a comment on Sept. 18. I admire you for your strength, and stick to your beliefs no matter what people say to you. God makes us go through trials in life for a reason. If you would like to email me I would appreciate talking to you please.

Great show!Tyra you need to educate American youth.Hispanic is NOT a race!Hispanics come in all races and mixes and DO NOT have to have a hispanic surname to be hispanic.Do all white Americans have an english last name?Secondly racism, in different forms exists throughout Latin America.It also exists amongst: Asians,Europeans,Arabs and Africans.Even within the same countries like Italy,Spain & Germany there is no lost love between their northern & southern regions.How does the media in the US view/portray white people from the South?Do Americans know there are white european muslims in Albania and the former Yugoslavia?Wait, do you think the average US high school student could even find these places on a map???Forget it, they're too busy watching booties in rap videos.

I am nineteen year old Caucasion girl. I find racism to be one of the most disturbing problems this world is facing. I personally do not see what a persons skin color has to do with anything. There are good and bad in every race. People who intend on being judgemental towards another person need to take a step back and ask themselves why they are doing it. Why would one person need to make another feel inferior just so they can feel good about themself. I have three really close friends; One is African-American ~ she is one of the nicest, smartest and kindest people I know. One is Indian ~ she is so sweet, selfless and giving. And the other is Caucasion ~ she is funny, tender-hearted and friendly. They all mean the world to me. I don't care what color my friends are; I look on the inside, not the outside. Thank you Tyra for addressing this topic.

Hi Tyra

I was very impressed by this particular show I felt for each and everyone of them. I am 28 yrs old and was born and raised in Puerto Rico and I have been living in the US for the last 7 years. I have to say that even though racism is everywhere in the world it seems that here in America particularly we segregate ourselves with our own people and seperate from the rest. Back home in PR we have all colors and races like in US(black,whites redheads ,taned , asian etc...) and honestly I never , never in my life while I lived there did I really notice those differences. It was only when I moved to the US did I see people identifying each other by their race or skin color. As Puertorrican I am very aware of my roots: I am 1/3 Black 1/3 white and 1/3 indian So as you can see I(like may people) am not just Latin I come from a rich background full of colors. I think the best way to stop racism is to lead by example. If someone treats you nasty (been there)just smile , show them the courtesy that they lack. Demonstrate your kindness and what a good person your are. Kill them with sugar and at the same time don't judge them for their ways be an example to them . I know it sounds cheezy but believe it has helped me in many cases.
Well that is all, Keep up the good work,

Cuidate
Michelle

Hi Tyra, love your show but unfortunately i missed this episode! I think racism will never end because it is just too sensitive of a subject! People will always be hurtful, we can't change that. What we can change is how we ourselves react.

For example, instead of flying off the handle when some ignoramus says the "N" word, act calm and collected. Don't let it phase you. You know who you are and this person does not, so don't let their sad attempts at hurting you succeed! When you remain calm the rude person will be surprised and maybe they will learn that what they said isn't right afterall.

It's people who get all mad and crazy who keep the stereotypes going. All that does is make the racist person feel justified because you act like they expected you to.

Did you know also, that some people don't really KNOW that the "N" word is disrespectful? It's true! Some people are just ignorant and don't know better! It's just a word to them.

So we have to calmly educate sometimes. People will respect you more when you handle things in a mature fashion, no matter what race you are! So people, get rid of your "hang ups", paranoias, aggressive reactions and just be the beautiful you that you are. Get it? Got it? Good!

We all need to set examples, act like decent human beings and stop the drama! (although I DO love drama but not in this instance)Let's DO this! (love u Tyra, you are tha bomb!)

Hey there Tyra,
I would just like to say that you had aired a show on racism including a white female. As a young(20yrs old.) female myself and being overweight i've had my share of racism. But i would like to say that you included so many different ethnicities yet you forgot one very large mainly forgotten group of women, Native Americans. And as far as the ending of racism goes so many people were on that show complaining that they were the ones that were being discrimated against the most. Yet not one of them stood up and said we are all human beings and we all have feelings. Every human being has gone through struggles. No matter what ethnicities, color, size, or religion we have all gone through some tough times. So why can't grown women stand up and fight to stop racism? So instead of sitting there complaining stand-up and have a voice!!! If your sick of being discrimated against start treating others better!! There's one thing that people seem to continue to keep forgeting, and thats the "golden rule" ( treat others how you want to be treated ) maybe if grown men and women ( some even parents ) would rememeber this and teach their children and there would be a little less hatered in the world.

while it seems that the "white" people are not discriminated against, this simply is not true. in my school, many of the african- american's will throw things at my friends and i, and they will yell whitey and cracker and other things at us,however if we even say "black" as opposed to african american, it is a huge deal, even though they are commiting the same offense. they yell that my ancestors inslaved thiers and i often times find myself having to be overly nice to an african- american, when that person is constantly insulting me.
another issue i have found is that white people are no longer presented with equal opportunities. if there were a united white college fund it would be considered a racist orginazion. but there is a scholarship for every other race.

i dont want to whine and say ohh everybody is racist and nobody likes me! but there is something to think about. look at this screen. it is white. have you ever seen a person the color of this screen? white? look at the color of these letters. they are black. is anyone this color?
there is no such thing as black and white, just a wide range of shades of tan infused with beautiful cultures.

Hey Tyra, I Love your show! I wanted to say that i dont believe that there will ever be an end to racism. it's all around us. we fear what/who we dont know, espeacially wjen race is involved. Im young and of Haitian American decent. I have a very dark and beautiful complection, and that is exactly the problem. Other races look at me and automatically think that I take part in what the statistics say about my culture. I cant say that my culture or any other culture for that matter is perfect. we find murderers, rapist, homeless, hackers,etc everywhere. Maybe the key to ending racism is to start when the kids are young, teach them to care for one another because deep down we are all the same. we all have blood, a heart,oragans and so forth.

Hi,
Im a hispanic teenager and i know whats its like to be not liked or only liked by what peole call "our own kind." I have been called a beaner been told to go bacl over the border and that im waisting air. Sometimes i wish that i wasnt mexican in the first place. But there somthing i've learned and its that white peole or black people or anyother race isnt any different. When i first moved here peole thought i couldnt understand english so they were talking about me as if i could only speak spanish, but i have got along and have friends who no matter what race i am will always love ,so im thankful for the people in tis worl who dont care you race or color or laungage only care about whats in the inside thank you

hello,
my name is ashley and i have a few questions. I know what its like to be discriminated but i dont get it that much. but what i want to know is why people have issuse with enter raceial relashionships. im only 16 but i really love my boyfriend he is sweet he makes me happy and hes a all around good guy. but hes black and my stepdad, real dad and grandfather think im bad now. my dad tells me that people are not going to accept us as a couple and that im going to have a hard life if i stay with him. my stepdad says that he thought i knew better then to do that and he told me that if my little sisters start thinking that they can date other guys besides white guys that it ws going to be my falut. and my grandfather doesnt even talk to me. my question is if someone makes you happy and they make you a better person on the inside then why does it matter that there a different color then you.

id tell everyone to throw away their black-n-white television and get with the rest of the world and get a COLOR TV!!!! then they may be able to SEE BETTER....love ya TYRA!!!

Every group within every race has faced predjidice. Did you know that research has shown that people who are tall and people that are better looking are more successful? Let's all step up to the plate and treat one another the way we would like to be treated. Remember that true beaty comes from within. Once you get to know someone you stop looking at their outside and start to see what is inside. Therefore we need to act with dignity and have respect for other people, beyond their race and others will see the beauty inside.

Hello Tyra or in my language "Aiiniin"

I thought that the show on racism was excellent, but Native people were left out. I'm a Native woman from Canada. I'm half Pottawatomi, part Ojibwa, Odawa, Sioux, and Oji-Cree. I have experienced racism that others would not believe still happens in this day and age. I know lots of other Native people that have this happen to them as well.
I cannot go into a store without getting followed,sometimes harrassed by the store owners.
In Canada we have these cards of Native Status, which we are encouraged to carry all the time. I have even heard racist comments about Natives spoken by an upstanding local politician in a public place.
By the way I love the show and never miss an episode.
Thank you for letting me get this off my chest.

Baa maa pe (Until later)

Hey Tyra ... I am a 23 y/o white female from a small town in Ohio ... I am currently in a 3 year long relastionship w/ the sweetest man God ever put breathe into ... And Yes he happens to be Black~ A lot of people here in my hometown don't agree w/ it and even when we are out some people still make comments ... I even have a hard time w/ my family, but i keep my head up because i am so happy .. ANd even happeier then i have ever been ... ANd that's all that matters to me .... People need to open their eyes and see we are ALL the same ... We just happen to be lighter skin or darker skin then others ... STOP HAttin on people cause they are different ...JUst look and maybe you might beable to learn something ... Thanks ~ And stay beautiful!

Hey there Tyra, I LOVED this episode on your show, and so did my friends that watch your show; however, my sis and I noticed that there weren't any Native Americans on the show. Que paso? Why no native americans? Good points were brought up on the show, it was great...just kept wondering about the Native Americans...

Much love,
Michelle

Tyra,
I am a Lakota Sioux and NezPerce women. I must say I do love your show and watch it when I get the chance too. But I have been disturbed by your show and how you only used 5 groups. The "Who Has It Worst" got me because in your study I saw no Native Americans. I guess the country has forgotten about us or only wish to think of us on ONE national holiday. To me I think Native have it pretty damn hard...we are not even noticed.

*^~^*
|.!*|
|.!*|
|.!*|
|.!*|

I'm very disappointed in Stacy's comment, which was the first comment I saw, mainly because this is a topic about ending racism and you are accusing African Americans of "whinning" about the effect racism has had on them when it is absolutely necessary to let it be known. If African Americans sit back and let it happen, it will continue. One way to help stop it is by educating others because racism is an ignorance. Unfortunately, racism is still present so therefore opinions should still be acknowledged. Of course African Americans are not the only race effected by racism, but they are presumably the most targeted on an everyday basis. Yes, every race has suffered "something" but this is specifically about racism. Also, it shouldn't be a matter of just "surviving", the problem should be non existant. Everyone should remember that if you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything. So if you are not doing enough to let your opinions be heard, don't put any other person down because they are.

-Age: 18
-Race: ((Why Should it Matter?))

|.!*|
|.!*|
|.!*|
|.!*|
*^~^*

Tyra,

Hello. I am an Alaskan Native. I notice that there has been a few mentions to not forget the Natives. Of course, I agree. Keep in mind that the natives had to give up their land, language, and culture in order to not be slaughtered. Our language and culture is trying to be revived but is hard since our elders are nearly gone. And what elders are still around were forced to live the "white man's" way. For instance, they were beaten whenever they spoke in their tongue and forced to wear what the caucasians said were appropriate. So, our regalia, artifacts, ect. were stolen and sold to museums and other collectors. This was only by the europeans, the russians staked claim to our land as well.

I do appreciate your focus on this sensitive subject. If at all possible I would love to see the natives be given credit for all that they had endured also.

Hi Tyra,
I love the way the show ended.I wish we could get closer to being more accomodating and tolerant of each other.I am amazed at the racism i see out here in Nova Scotia where Black Nova Scotians look down on the Blacks from the Carribean and Africa.I find it so saddening.If we are so divided how can we work together to rebuild what was destroyed.I like the way you handled the show.It was a bold and welcome move.People need to talk about these things.

Hi Tyra I am here to write you because I seen this episode and believe me it shocked me like crazy. Let me introduce myself I am a 19 1/2 male I live in Florida I am white but I never had gotten discriminated because I am white I have gotten discriminated by different races because I have a hereditary back problem. I hate it because it makes me look much different from the world and other people have straight backs. I don't I have gotten called hunchback of Notre Dame. I have a hump on my back because of something called Kyphosis. Tyra I just want everyone to know that we have all gotten discriminated one time or another and I wish we could all just get along.

Tyra, Im a Hispanic 36 year old woman. Im so tired of blac people whinning poor me my god enough. Every race has suffered through something and every race somehow survived.

Hi Tyra, I watched the episode on racism and was very disappointed to see that Native Americans were not recognized. I am a proud Native American woman and I think it's time that society needs to stop ignoring the Native American Race.

Tyra,
I wanted to first thank you for a great show regarding racism. I know what it's liked to be frowned upon. I'm of a Latin background, Mexican & Portuguese to be exact...born in the beautiful Island of Hawaii...I embraced the Aloha Spirit; I danced the Hula and Tahitian and still do to this day. My best friend growing up was Japanese’s, I would wear the beautiful Kimonos that her mom would purchase for us when she would make a trip up to Japan...I Lived in Mexico for 2 years (not by choice) but I saw discrimination there as well it was because I spoke English that I was discriminated upon. Then I’ve been here in California ever since. It's still shocks me when people assume I only speak Spanish and don't speak English or that I’m here illegally or that I depend on WIC and Medical to take care of me. I speak both languages…but my first language is English. I’m teaching my kids what my Mother taught my-self and my sisters growing up.
Look beyond skin color…because if you cut yourself and I cut myself…we both BLEED RED…no matter what color our skin is.
I hope one day we will be able to accept everyone no matter what race as an equal.
Thanks again Tyra

hello i'm mexican and i really know what is to lived racism because i'm from other country and because i don't speck pefect the language... and because i'm other color

Hey Girl,
Being Native American, we realize that we are only 1 percent of the population of this country, there was a time that we were 100 percent of the population. We do get left in the dust, especially when it comes to having a say in the 'racist wars' that we have endured also.
Dont forget the Native Americans!!! Still love your show.

To end racism people just need to stop looking @ color and like beyond color and see who people really are it 's realling wrong it's even in songs to stop it people need to stop the folling in songs, the way u talk the way u act speak learn and it's always broughin up in history like slaves days so we can't stop talking about history all we need to do is recepct people's fellings and don't be racist!?

Funny how your show on racism had a latin girl. When really she was South American. American always say Latin. Hhowever, Latin includes Greeks, French, Italians and Spaniards. Also the majority of Spaniards are not mixed with anything they are caucasian. However, when you lump people which most of the time you really mean South and Central Americans, why don't you called them what they are? Otherwise, in all fairness you should have an Italian, Greek, French and a Spaniard when you mention Latin. Just like you like to be called African American. Spanish people are not the only Latin culture you may want to mention that because most Americans have no clue!

Hey Tyra:
Watched ur show on racism and wasn't amazed by the reactions or comments, heard them all my life. What did shock me was the race that was missing from the panel, the one i feel has been the MOST subjected to racism.....NATIVE AMERICANS. See i'm half black and half native american so i see both sides of the spectrum. My grandmother was full-blooded Cherokee Indian and do u know that she chose to pass for 'black' because she thought it was easier, can u believe that. Are we forgetting that they were pushed off THEIR land and forced to live on reservations and to this day most still do live on them. I was just wondering what the statistics are on this race of people and how ur audience would feel about the native american population. Me being black and native american i still believe that native americans received the shortest end of the stick. what are your thoughts???
Thanx for your time and wanted you to know that i love u and what ur doin. U have really inspired me as a young female of color and i thank you for being a fabulous role model in my eyes;) Keep up the good work
-Rasheeda

Tyra,
I was offended by the african american girl that said that being a nurse is "less than" being a doctor. There are nurses of all educational levels...including PhD and Doctorate of Nursing.

Secondly, I think it's absurd that African americans continue to hold on to the past. I understand that slavery is part of history, but I don't know a single african american alive that was ever a slave. And to say that they were brought over against their will is only half correct. Their own people sold them into slavery. The Irish were also slaves, however that is not something that is ever discussed in the academic or social setting.

Minorities today have awesome opportunities to advance themselves. Their are scholarships specifically for asians, hispanics, and african americans. Can you imagine if some decided to offer a scholarship that was only open to caucasian people? It would not go over well! I know of a scholarship that requires the applicant to PROVE that he/she is Scottish...pretty absurd huh? How many african americans, asians or latinos have to prove their ethnicity in order to get a scholarship.

How long until we begin to live in the present and take accountability for our own actions and futures?

Hi Tyra,
I just watched the show on racism on the Oxygen network and became very upset...even to the point of crying. Then I came on here to voice my opinions and was hurt even more. I am a young white woman and I feel that you blew off the white girl you had on the show. I felt she was only there for appearance sake and you did not give her a fair enough chance to share her story. I know that everyone is discriminated against, however, it seems taboo that anyone should speak of discrimination against whites. I do not feel that your show helped the matter at all, maybe even helped racism along if you ask me. I am truly disappointed because I thought it would be enlightening and that we would get to hear all sides, but that was not the case. I am deeply hurt by the things I have read hear and by what I saw on the show. I try to give everyone a fair shke but I'll tell you I am tired of being looked down upon for who I am. African Americans and Hispanics say that they cannot change the color of thier skin, that is who they are. Well SURPRISE neither can I. We all have problems with racism, I just wish that white people would not get blamed for being the cause...this is not the case. If African Americans want to end racism then they can start by remembering and respecting the past, but not using as a reason for current times. As a previous comment has stated- their ancestors were trading then beofe we 'whites' got there. Please remember this. And also remember that I did not own slaves. Genreations before me have not owned slaves. So why are the children being raised to think that 'whites' nowadays owe them something. We all have to make our own lives and only we can determine what will come of them. Everyone has opportunity in this country and no one is being oppressed any longer. If they are it is the decision they have made. I also agree with another about the comment you made about 'people of color'. You were showing your feelings on whites right there by leaving us completely out of the picture because we all know that whites cannot be 'people of color' but everyone else is. So what are we then, are we less than all of you?? What can we have pride in, because it cannot be our skin color or we are tagged a racists. I do not mean to be harsh but I am deeply hurt by this show and I am sorry if you think it has helped matters any because I do NOT see how it has. America needs to unite and become one and we cannot do this with everyone reminding us about skin color. Let's call everyone People. We are all People, so lay the colors down(although still have pride in them- even whites) and become something new...Americans, all of us, no better, no less, just American People.

I am a muslim girl who is half indian and half russian. My whole life till last year i lived like a regular american. never got stopped at the airport.Never had any problem. But since i started wearing hijab things changed completely. i have been called a terrorist by people driving past while i am driving my car. People who used to say hi to me when i used to go walking dont even want to look in my direction. Well maybe the african american have got discriminated a lot in america mostly by the white race. But the fact is that the muslim women are getting discriminated right now by every race. I hope people can open there mind and start looking beyond appearance and colour.Black white yellow brown blue Etc Etc We all have been created by God.Our differences in looks and appearance is what makes all of us so unique and the world so beautiful and colourful.

Tyra, I watched your show tonight on racism and I was very glad that you had the guts to address this issue. I must say that I was a little disappointed with the african american women in the audience that got "HEATED" while making her comment. This is one of the stereotypes that we as african american women are trying to break. I am tired of being label the angry black women every time i am ready to debate a topic. I feel that we should as you stated Tyra, make the comments that we want without having to get angry. We are educated like everyone else and we need to start showing that side of our race. We need to start showing "AMERICA" that we can be more than welfare moms and jail bond men. We truly need more high profile individuals like yourself Tyra to address these topics. Thanks for your show, and congratulations on the new season!

Dear Tyra,
I have spent the past 29 of my 49 years trying to respect people of varying backgrounds and/or cultures. When people are racists they are not familiar with that culture. I am from an almost all white area. My mother told me that African Americans were the same as me, but their skins were dark. What I learned was what she said and how she felt was not the same. I had a friend whose daughter was part African American. When I wanted to invite them to my parents home my mother said "no, what would the neighbors think" I always felt if we were not really different then there should be no problem with my friend and her child coming to our home.
I am married to a man from Iran. I felt other people's prejudice towards him and fell I have a little understanding of discrimination. I take every opportunity to try to educate others about other cultures because with understanding comes acceptance.
You know really middle easterners have been noticed by prejudice people before 9/11. This started with the taking of the hostages in Iran. You know Iranians are more racist against Arabs than Africans. It is due to the capturing of Iran by the Arabs that forced Islam on them and effected so much change in their language and culture. That is why though a Moslem, Ferdusi, wrote the Shahnameh--to preserve the language.

Tyra,
On September 19,2006 you had a show about racism. Don't forget the people who have disabilities and get discrimination all the time because the majority of the people in this world think they are just wasting space on this planet. When you are talking about racism you should include the people have disabilities of all kinds. We are just human as the rest of the race with some limiations. I'm not talking for myself, but for the other people who have a disability just like myself.

Jennifer

I just watched the show on racism. The thing that stuck out to me were the two black women speaking about how they've experienced racism within their ow race. I can really identify with that. Being light skinned, all my life, there has always been someone there to reassure to me that i am not fully black. I could not go a day without being referred to as a white girl. At school, people would ask me why my sister was dark skinned and i was so light. I felt like i had to prove to them in some kind of way that i was good enough to be referred to as black. But now, even though i'm still only 19, i have realized that i am damn proud of the way God made me. I am here to say to the Beautiful light skinned sista, that you don't have to prove yourself to anyone. If someone really loves you, they will love the way you look also. I used to wish that i was darker also, but all that did was make it worse. Love yourself, and when you learn to do that, the people that don't need to be in your life will leave, and you will be left with the people you NEED to be surrounded by.
I know exactly how it feels to not fit in with the white kids, because you're black. And, at the same time, not fit in with the black kids, because you're not black enough. And then, when people see a group of milotto (light skinned) females together, they are immediately labeled as being stuck up. So in turn, you have to change yourself; act a certain way, or talk a certain way, just to be accepted. I thank you so much for doing this show Tyra, i think it was a huge wake- up call; one that the world needs. I love your show. And, i think that we as "races" need to stop looking for sympathy, and start helping to educate people, so that my generation and those to come won't start going backwards in time, so to speak.

I am a young white american woman. I truly believe that the first step to healing is to look within ourselves and see past our own hurt that has been inflicted upon us. Look past the pain we have felt at the hands of others and see the pain we have inflicted. In order to begin healing we all need to see within ourselves that ugly dark corner where hate lives. In watching your show, I saw that the women identified with the pain of those like them, and asking "who has it worst?" may not have been the right question. Although from your demeanor Tyra, I tend to believe you already know that! You spoke the truth in love to the women. Those of similar ethnic background and those different. You apologized for your misrepresentation of the Muslim population. You confessed your shortcomings as a person. This may be the first step to erasing hate... acknowledging that it exists within us... all of us. The question is not who has it worse?? Because the cycle of hate affects us all... The question is what have I done, what have I not done for my neighbor lately?

I liked the show. i agree with above. Native American's are forgotten. In my town i'm diffrent. People have asked my parents if i was adopted cuz i don't look like them cuz my face looks like me native american heritage. what hurts the most when a ex bf to my face called me a racial term about me being indian. SO what i'm saying like normal forget the american indian.

This show touched me so much! I am a junior Women's Studies major and a lot of my classes focus on the oppression of women as a whole. Of course, factors such as race and ethnicity and religion come up constantly in discussions in all of my classes. It was so hard to see all these women so broken up about differences, when there is this blatent commonality among them. Just think how women could be uplifted if we could join together! The end of the show definitely gave me hope. I know not everyone went home stereotype-free or racism-free, but at least some went home with a new mind-set that maybe we aren't that different. I like what the Dr. from UCLA was saying about how there is no connection between race and biology. Turn the lights off and we all "look" alike, lol. It is we as a people, primarily in America, that create these differences and it's about time that we realize that it would be more beneficial to a majority of us if we started breaking down some of these barriers. Because while the big-wigs are getting paid at the oppression of others, the oppressed are busy hating each other. Ridiculous, right?

I just finished watching a rerun of this show on OH. While I'm glad this is a dialogue that Tyra engaged in, I am, as I always am, APPALLED by the institutionalized discrimination of my race, Native Americans. If the fact that we were not a voice or even a footnote in this dialogue in the show is not the most clear demonstration of WHO truly is the most discriminated against race, then I don't know what is. We don't even make the "race" list! We are the people of this place, the people who were here first, and yet we are not even permitted into the "race" dialogue. We are the ONLY race of people who are national mascots! For those of you who don't know, "Redskin" is a derogatory racial slur, equivalent of the "n-word" etc... The decimation and annihilation of MY people is a national pasttime, and we are not EVEN acknowledged as players in this dialogue on race. Our men have a life expectancy of 46 years old, our children do not make it through high school, and the attrition rate for native students in undergraduate programs is approximately 50-60% the first year. Please remember the place you live in, and don't contribute to the myth of the vanished Indian. We are surviving, we are proud, we are here.

Hey,
i saw the show about race on sept. 20. i live in central florida and florida is pretty diverse. we have every kind of culture. i myself would have labeled each person differently. first off, on the Muslim. i dont see them all as Taliban. i guess im just against the religion. I wouldn't have seen the white or blacks or Latinos as on welfare with kids. that was just dumb. but on the Asian i would say she was the smartest because i have come in contact with alot of smart ones. i myself have been called racist becuase i dont want to date out of the white race. and it really offended me. i dont see it as that. its just a preferance.
and i can say i have been racist. ive been racist in the fact that it irritates that i see people on government assistants that could do better for themselves. they use the sysem. cuz i remember when i was a little girl my mom tryed to get foodstamps because my dad was in the hospital and was soul providers and he even almost died and they refused us. and there were other people their that said they couldnt work and got the assistant. bull crap. i work in a grocery store and i see a wide vareity of people on government assistant. WIC, foodstamps, or both. some just dont deserve it. they come in and waste and are careless and buy expensive meats and seafood. get you essentials. yeah its good to have something nice for a change but do it on hard earned money. and its not just one race either. its all. if this doesnt make since, im just not good at stuff like this but had to say something on the matter.

thanks

I watched the show about racism and the different stereotypes and honestly was not surprised what people said. I agreed with both of the race experts in terms of which race was discriminated against the most and yes I believe it is African-Americans and primarily b/c of our history. And most of the problems within the black community especially in terms of beauty is due to slavery. I am a brown skin woman with locs and most black men do not feel that a darker skinned woman is as attractive as a lighter skinned woman, and it is the same with hair texture and style. If our hair is not long and straight its a problem, if its natural then its ugly. But what black people and many other cultures do not realize is that AFRICANS DID NOT CHOOSE WHAT WAS BEAUTIFUL. B/c we were forced here ultimately to break us down white people told us what was beautiful when mixed children came into this world. So I think that has carried w/in our culture for the past 400+ years. But I am glad that the issue as a whole was addressed.

Dear Tyra and anyone else who may read this,

I am currently wathcing the episoide on Racism, and I have to see it's making me really angry but not for the reasons you may accept.

I personally am so sick of hearing how a certain race is "picked on" or "discriminated against." Can we be real for one second? WE HAVE ALL BEEN DISCRIMINATED AGAINST! Whether you're white, black, purple, green. I don't care if you're jewish or just a punk rocker, people make assumptions and they act out on them.

Please do not get me wrong, I agree fully that racism is huge problem and that it needs to be stopped. But mostly it concerns me and frightens me when racism becomes dangerous and transforms into hate crimes.

I just wanted to say that being the audience for the Tyra Show is prodimently female, can we all take a second to relate on that instead of fighting over which race has it the worst? As women I'm sure we all have been discriminated against, let's talk about that. Let's stop that.

Yes, I am white (not caucasian, as I did not originate from caucasia) but I have been discrimanted against. I'm 4'11 and 4 months ago I weight 183 pounds. I'm a theatre dork, who wore nothing but sweat pants, southpole hoodies and timberlands to school. Being short, being fat, dressing "black," being a WOMAN I have been discriminated against.

So my question to you Tyra and those that are reading this, can we take discrimination and unite from it! Stop fighting over who has it worse, because we've all had it...Let's stop it between eachother, and realize our similarities.

So as cheesy as this is, Female Power!

I am watching the re-run of this television show, and I don't understand the point behind making sure people know that they are "African Americans", "Middle Eastern American", "Hispanic American". I seem to notice the fact that American is in each and every one of the labels, why not put aside all the labels and be just simply Americans. We all share this country, just the color of our skin and the background in which our family comes from. Most of the people in this country were born in this country, why not just clame at the simplistic of values that they are Americans, and not state that they are for example Muslim Americans, I understand pride in family background but we are all family in the country of America.

Tyra alot of different races were on your show, however im from an area known as the State of Franklin which is SouthWest Virginia, NorthWest North Carolina, NorthEast Tennessee, Southern West Virginia, and Eastern Kentucky. People look at us as Hillbillies and that we are all stupid and we live in broken down houses with no plumbing. Its really hard when you goto a city and your afraid to talk because of your acent, i believe you should show the world what we are really about........

I feel that society makes judgements and assumptions from tv, newspapers, and media. The issues we see and read create fear in us. We have fears. We should have sympathy for all races and religions. If we don't like when experience racism, then we should't be racist back. If the black women on the show doesn't like when people are racist towards her, she shouldn't be racist towards the other women on the panel. If we keep living in the past, we will never live in the future. We live in one world, planet Earth, we all should give one another a chance and love one another despite race. Melissa

hello,
Tyra i hope u see this too. I really enjoyed the show on racism, but i most say u picked one wrong person for the show, don't remember her name but it was the one with the red hair weave. She was on Flavor of Love season 2 the first episode and was already acting ignorant and ghetto as heck to be honest people like her made us blacks look like " that's all we do is talk mess and start fights" so she deserved to get called out on the show the way she did. Because we are all not like that. It made me really mad. please don't ever put her back on your show. You derserve better

I think these talk shows talking about racism are a waste of time.The show never talked about Native Americans or how latinos are mixed race people and are not a race.If all humans came from Africa...who can we all be different races?

I have to agree with all of the other posters regarding not having the Native American population represented. Not only are they discriminated against on a daily basis, many tribes were literally exterminated from the face of the earth. I grew up in a nice quiet white middle class neighborhood. I am German and Irish. My husband is full blooded Oglala Sioux, born and raised on the Pine Ridge Reservation just a few miles from the site of the Wounded Knee Massacre, and yes, it was a MASSACRE, NOT a "battle" as the history books would have us believe.
So, if there is one race in this country that is the most discriminated against, it is the Natives, this was their land, their country and it was taken from them by any and every means necessary. There is a wonderful quote by Cheif Red Cloud that says: "They made us many promises, but they kept only one, they promised to take our lands and they took them." So, the next time you all go feeling sorry for yourselves, go visit a reservation, it will give you a good dose of reality and make you thank your lucky stars you have what you have. "We are all related." Toksa ake.

I stayed up late last night just to watch your T.V. show on racism. I have to say I am very proud of Tyra and give her lots of respect for bringing different races together to discuss this issue, I am furthermore glad that the black lady who was Muslim stood up and addressed the public that all Muslims are not Arabic. I am white and I met my boyfriend five months ago he is Arabic and Muslim. I have since came to learn and understand and also highly respect him and the religion. I am sick and tired of the media always describing every one in the middle-east as Muslims, Muslim is a religion, Islamic is a way of living, It means surrender your life to God, do and live for him and you will find peace. Its not a terrorist group or a classification of color or race. Everyday I see the news and public publicize things that are not of fact. I think there needs to be a show on religion and racism, and I would like to be the first woman on it. I am converting over to being Muslim and find it very hard as a white woman in the South to be respected for my decision. My friends and family think its funny and dont respect me. I tell them I dont eat or feed my kids pork they dont care, so I have to chose who I can leave my kids with because they dont respect me. They make fun of me as far as when I convert, wearing a Hjaab. I am starting a new job at a Dr. office and I am so scared that when I do convert that it will be very hard on me, but I am also scared they will think of me as different and attracting attention. I am so scared that I will not be accepted and respected, and that they will try to give me a hard time or worse case scenario,get fired. Also because I am not Arabic I am not taken as serious about converting over. His family think that I want make a good enough Muslim wife for him. In fact I have very good moral, and that is what attracted me to the Muslim religion also. They have very strong moral, and are very close when it comes to family. Well here is your next show, about religion please email me back Tyra, it means alot to me.

I really liked your show about racism. it was actually really interesting to see what other people think, especially about racism. i live in South Carolina where the rebel flag still waves, and African Americans are treated almost like they were during the Civil War. though i am white i'm so disgusted with these people who have things against people of different skin colors. i am originally from the west coast and my best friend is black. she talks and acts like a white person. she is very smart as well. but her cousins that are her age tell her that she needs to stop talking so proper, or even stop dressing "like a white person" and this is her own family! i might only be thirteen but ive seen alot of different places and the way they treat people.i can remember living in Ohio when i was six. we lived in an apartment complex and my friends were black,white, and muslim (i'm not sure what ethnicity though). we would all get together and climb trees and play kickball. it was so cool because at the time i didnt care who they were as long as they would be my friend, you know? i hate it when other people judge people. it just bugs me. i wasnt always like that, though i don't think i've ever been racist. i just wanted to say that why can't we all be friends again like when we were smaller and we didnt even care what color we were. that would be so cool! thanks so much for talking about this topic!

I AM REALLY VERY SHOCKED TO HEAR SOME PEOPLE SAY THEY DONT BELIEVE SOME RACES HAVE HAD IT WORSE THAN OTHERS. I AM A 19 YEAR OLD BLACK FEMALE AND CAN HONESTLT SAY THAT I HAVE EXPERIENCED RASCISM WHEN NONE OF MY WHITE OR LATINO FRIENDS HAVE IN THEIR LIFES. I THINK IF YOU WERE IN MY SHOES THEN YOU COULD TRULY SEE THAT SOME RACES DO HAVE IT HARDER THAN OTHERS AND THOSE ARE JUST THE FACTS DO I WISH THAT COULD CHANGE YES BUT TO ACT LIKE ITS NOT TRUE IS ABSURD. EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT GO READ YOUR HISTORY AND YOU WOULD KNOW ALL MINORITIES HAVE HAD IT HARD AND YES THAT MAY BE TRUE BUT I HATE TO SAY THIS BLACK PEOPLE DO HAVE IT THE WORST WALK IN OUR SHOES FOR A WEEK AND YOU WOULD KNOW WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT.BECASUE FOR A LOT OF US BLACKS NO MATTER HOW SUCCESFUL YOU ARE ,OR WHAT YOU SOUND LIKE OR HOW YOU CONDUCT YOURSELF WHEN PEOPLE SEE DARK SKIN THEY AUTOMATICALLY STEREOTYPE YOU AND HAVE THESE RASCIST FEELINGS TOWARD YOU. I BET OTHER RACES DONT GET THAT, IF YOU DIED A LATINO GURLS HAIR BLONDE PEOPLE WOULD PROBABLY THINK SHE IS WHITE UNTIL SHE SPOKE AND THATS IF SHE HAD AN ACCENT BUT NOT WITH US SIMPLY BECAUSE OUR SKIN IS DARK WERE AUTOMATICALLY STEREOTYPED TO BE SOMETHING OTHER THEN WE ARE SOMETHING LOWER SOMETHING DIRTY AND THATS NOT RIGHT. SO WITH ALL THAT SAID TO ALL OF YOU WHO SAY GO READ A HISTORY BOOK YE GO DO THAT AND YOU WOULD KNOW THAT US BLACKS GOT IT THE WORST.

i watched the show on racism and cried. it is so sad that the world has come so far but the hate is still thriving. God made everyone the same on the inside and that is all that matters. i am white. my boyfriend is a strong black man. we suffer together from both of our races.everywhere we go together we get nasty looks and comments. A lot of white people refer to me as "the girl who dates black guys" i get so frustrated! he is no different from a white or asian guy. why is it that a white person can be with an asian or anyone else & it is more accepted than a black and white couple? why can't people accept the beautiful differences between other races, cultures, and religions?

Dear Tyra,

I was a little disappointed by your show about racism this evening. There was only a minimal amount of time spent on the white race. All that was really said about it was that people think our lives are perfect. I am a 23 year old white female and there are many things that the white race faces that many people don't realize. We are plagued by the fear that we will say something wrong and offend someone of a different race. More often than not we accused of being racist for something so simple as a look. I personally believe that everyone is the same, it is their character that makes them who they are not their color. However, the reality is that white people also face racial hardship. Thousands, of white young adults are passed over for college scholarships that they are qualified to recieve because of affirmative action. This same law costs people promotions at work or the job period. Not all white people are well off which seems to be the common belief. I am friendly to everyone but, have been scoffed at on several occasions because of my race. I was friends with a girl in high school that was black and she taught me to braid hair. Her black friends made fun of me and her. They were saying that white girls have no business knowing how to braid black hair. My mother married a Mexican man. When they would go to parties at his friends' houses the hispanic women would ignore my mother like she wasn't even there. She spoke a little spanish and was friendly but, she finally stopped trying. It is well known that white people aren't welcome in the 'hood'. Why not? We struggle too. I'm trying to go to school and raise a daughter however, I was denied help from social services because, I make too much money but, I don't have a job. The social worker actually told me to lie that I didn't know who my child's father was, not work, not go to school, and move to the projects. Then, she said, I could get all the help I needed. However, I'll get terrorized in the projects. An african american man asked me on a date but, I was already involved with someone, so I declined. He got angry with me and told me I was racist and what was wrong him. His actual words were, "Is my skin too dark for you?". I was offended but, it didn't matter. That isn't the only instance of discrimination I've faced. Being from the south leads people to assume that all white people HATE anyone of another race or relegion other than christianity. That alone makes it extra hard for me. I am descended Irish and English. The Irish have been stereotyped forever. Like the old joke, God invented beer so the Irish wouldn't take over the world. It implies that we're all drunks. As soon as I divulge that I am part Irish people want to drink with me because, I must a heavy drinker. I'm not though. I was just a little disappointed that some of these issues weren't talked about I honestly thought that your show was 'young' enough that some of these issues would be brought up. I would just like people to be aware that EVERYONE is discriminated against even white people.

I wonder if it is possible to end raceism when we see so many people throwing it around so often. African-Americans think they have it worse, but don't always seem to want to let it go, to move past and grow behond. What makes it all worse are the multitudes of people who live up to the racial steriotypes either because they keep the same low expectations of them selves, or because they think thats what others expect of them, or for the many other reasons. As far as I am concerned, there is no excuse to not expect the very best from yourself. No matter what your religion, race, skin tone, or financial background, there is no excuse to not do and be your best. TO expect more of yourself and not worry what the world thinks of you and to not judge those around you is the only way to make any headway in this outdated way of thinking.

Hey Tyra! I love your shows and this episode has especially touched me because i am a korean american but people just see me as korean and judge me for my appearance. i had really wanted 2 watch this episode because i know how it feels when people are very rude to you because of what you look like, i have suffered through this in sports and have cried myself to sleep over it, but what hurt the most is that nothing was every really done.I mean one of the teams had apologized in a letter, but i think they're coach had written it for them and they just signed it, they didnt say anything to my face or even write a personal note, i would have just liked if they had meant it. this is my senior year in high school and i can remember every year something has been said to me about being asian and i know that there are more years to come! Even my friends are racist towards me at times and i brush it off even though some of the things they say really does hurt because i dont want to start drama and i would be treated like an outcast the whole day. this episode had really touched me because i know the feeling and it really reached out to me.

I love your show on racism but, I was upset to see that you did not include Native Americans.
We were here before any other race and I believe that we encounter the most racism by the fact that we are not remembered. My name is Lydia and I'm a 20 year old Native American from the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate Tribe in South Dakota and the experience's that we face are of the most cruel and hated kind and we have to deal with this on a daily basis, and for Native Americans to be forgotten about on a simple discussion of racism is just adding insult to injury. It would be great if you would do some research on the history of Native Americans and maybe do a follow up show because i know alot of people who were disturbed just by the fact that you did not include the most important race in history.

Hi, I am a 19 year old muslim. I was born in Pakistan, but I have lived in the U.S. since i was about 3 or 4. I am greatful to be living here because of the freedom and opportunities that are availible to me. I would just like to comment on the show about racism. I understand that according to reports African Americans have been discriminated against the most, but when it's said that they have suffered all those years its not true. The people who were forced into slavery and suffered they are the ones who have the right to be angry. Not those who are living in the U.S., and are enjoying the freedom they have. I understand that they may have been discriminated against, but they can't refer back to the suffering of early African Americans and use that on themselves. Each person is different. In each religon there are good and bad people, and then in some cases there are extremists. Just because a small group of people in a certain religon did a horrible act does not mean that all people of that religon are like that. No person should stereotype another by just looking at what religon he or she is. Each individual is a different person, and no one should be discriminated against due to the acts of others.

Tyra I really was enlightened by your show on racism. It is crazy that after so many years it is still present. My name is Jennifer and I am a white muslim with 2 children. One looks like his father whom is from Karachi and one looks like me. I find it difficult to find jobs because they see my last name on applications and do not want to hire me. I am very invloved in the religion but recently moving to the south I am finding it harder to fit in with his culture of people. I have not been in the religion long enough, I am not respected and told to deal with it, and my children are treated poorly because of me. I have been doubting my religion for a while dut to all the discrimination I meet.

The one question is Do we all believe in the Creator. If not for him we would not be here. God made us all different for a purpose and that was not for war but for peace and unity.
Thank you Tyra,

Hello,

I found the show on racism quite interesting. I wanted to comment because as a causcasian man I myself have experienced situations similar to some of your guests.
I am what is reffered to as 'Black Irish'. I have very dark, almost black hair, brown eyes, but very pale skin. I grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas in an very diverse community. I had experiences where people thought that I was Latino, Asian-American, and Jewish. I have had many negative comments made about the paleness of my skin - I guess it is unusual with my dark features. I think that this type of treatment speaks volumes about how individuals who don't actually fit into a specific racial "type".
I know that it might seem really strange that a white middle class male would experience this type of treatment, but, it is true. For example, I actually had someone say to me - 'I never knew there was such a thing as a gay Jew'. WOW!
At any rate the main purpose for my posting is to let your viewers know about a book that I was exposed to while in Graduate School. The title of the book is 'A Different Mirror' by Ronald Takaki. The book is a retelling of American history in an accurate manner in relation to race.
I hope that viewers will read this book - it is great! It really is eye-opening, not oinly regarding about our specific derivation, but also those around us.

Thanks,
Gary

Hi Tyra, I just got done watching your show on racism. It was a great show however I am a Native American and we are greatly discriminated against. I feel as if you left out a few races such as mine and also asians they are also people struggling to fit in here. So I think it would be great if you would have another show on the same subject but with a few more races included. thank you.

Oh and another comment for the african american woman who said that the palestinian woman came here on her own and black people were forced to, I just want to say i you are so unhappy you are free to go back to Africa anytime you want and f you are that unhappy here go!!!! I hate that Some African American people complain about thier ancestors being forced to come here for slavery and how they should have never been taken away from Africa but not one of thempack and go back on thier own free will, and as far as slavery do your history white peple were slaves to and so were latinos so why are black people th only ones who get the attention for it! Not all white people grew up privlaged and rich and no all people of color gew up in poverty. Alot of white people came to America as slaves to earn thier freedom and alot of them were never set free. Before the Portugiese discovered slavery in Africa, and at that point black people were slaves for other blak people, caucasion people were doing all the same things and getting the same treatment. Only when it spread and the started buying the africans and bringing them to America di it start geting attention but white people were right there to, read up on you history!!! And down near Mexico guess what latinos were used as slaves to!!!! Africans are not ony in the slave game they are just the only ones who get the atention for i which is not fare. I just wanted to state this!!

I am an 18 year old african american woman and i feel that everyone has a bit of racism in them.I love my "black" people but i know we need help.I was brought up in a strong family, my mother's side being more poor and my father's side being middle class.I know black people bring their own selves down.we talk about poverty and how the government cant help us and we could be on welfare and then we go out and buy $150 sneakers.that doesn't make since to me.my fathers side had goals and they all own houses and we all attend great schools.I live in a place where there are a lot of spanish people and to me they are in the same place where black people are except they are more proud of where they came from and of there heritage.black people only want to be proud and talk about slavery when we are offended.racism on middle eastern people is still new to me but when i looked at that woman i didnt think terrorist i saw pain.we are just scared of the middle eastern because we dont know anything about them.I dont really understand racism against white people so no comment. but i will say this. if black people want to be respected stop wearing the ghetto hair that is taller than you,please stop with the gold teeth thats nasty and stop wasting your money on material things and do something more productive.tyra i love your show and racism and stereotyping goes hand and hand.

I just wanted to say I thought your experiment was great but I feel that you left out a very very important "race" and that is native americans. Native Americans have racial discrimination as much anyone else, and share a long history of it just as African Americans do, and you didn't even include them in the show. Thanks.

ok, i liked this episode. But there were no Native Americans. Why is that

Ok I was just channel surfing tonight and saw the replay of the racism show on MTV. I get so aggrivated with the whole situation. Me and my three best friends are all four different races and sexes so we really get alot of comments and looks when we are out together, we have learned through each other what other races go through and one thing people dont realize is tht caucasion people really do have it worse than people think.No other race is blamed by every other race in the world for everything that happens to them, even if it has nothing to do with race if a caucasion person was involved if anything goes wrong its because they are not white. They did not get a job or into a school or appoved for a loan or called a name or anything like that because they are not white. Now I got ews I can't get approved for a loan I have been turned down for many jobs and I have been turned down for a few schools and I am WHITE!! People need to start looking at thier selves and whatthey are doing wrong and blaming that and stop using the excuse that they can't get nothing in life because they are not white, that's bullshit, it is just n excuse to not have to critisize yourself, and in return caucasions get the weight of the world on thier shoulders when things don't go they way people of color want them to. I am not saying never ever are things because of racism because it does exsist but start looking within insted of someone to blame.

Tyra, your show was great but! You forgot people who have had the worst of racism; the Native Americans.

Hi,Tyra. I watched your show on Racism and it brought back some memories of some of the things people have said to me.People say things like "Oreo"," You wear white girl clothes/shoes",and just because I speak up in class,I'm acting like a brown-nose white girl.(I'm accused of acting white and I was born in the PROJECTS!)My mom tells me that she understands that while it bothers me that those folks are just insecure and ridicule me because I act EDUCATED.Those comments come from fellow African-American classmates. Just last year a caucasian student told me in theses exact words"you need to stop acting white because you're not." It made me think that he figures that all black people are supposed to be loud and ghetto,which brings up another subject; the word ghetto is defined in the dictionary as a neighborhood that is predominately on race.It does not mean black, hispanic, asian or whatever.I would really appreciate it if people would get that through their heads. It does not mean how you behave,and acting"ghetto" just makes you look dumb and ignorant.On another note,I'm really glad you discussed racism on your show and I want to thank you for that.P.S. I hope your show has opened EVERYONE'S eyes to what racism does to people and get us all to do our part to stop it.I've started to stay away from people who make racist comments,jokes,and stereotypes.:)I also hope the people that do those things will see how it affects people and cut that mess out.:)

I did not see the show that this message board is concerning, however I am concerned about the subjuct matter of both this episode and this message board. It is counterproductive to argue about "who had it worst" this issue is why are being oppressed and how can we change it. Can we talk about that. However, before this issue can properly discussed in a productive matter we all need to be informed with historical events and ideological theory throughout history. A good place to start is "Race Matters" by Dr. Cornell West. For all of you who are concerned is the issue of race this is a great place to start. And please stop fighting about who has it worst. This only perpetuates the stereotypes that hurt us all.

I am an african american muslim women. I feel that the muslim community as a whole was not represented correctly. I was born in america and EMBRACED Islam six years ago. It needed to emphazied that Muslims come in every color. I get stared at every day because I wear the proper Muslim dress. The sisters who were on your show were not dress properly. This creates confusion among people especially the media. They think that women who cover their body fully are oppressed which is not true. Islam is about peace not things that cause harm. Oppression is harmful to the one being oppressed. I love your show but I was not at all happy at what I saw repesented. Please take the time to do proper research about Islam. I love being Muslim and Islam is a beautiful religion. There was a comment made by the man who started the "girls going wild" videos (who was on your show days before) He said women who are over in Saudia Arabia and cover there bodies are not free and women here in the states are free. Showing off your breast is not freedom. I was offended.

Hi, tyra i'm a typical african in Cameroon.The situation of racism is worldwide and i'm a victim of this.This has personlly slow down my level of education,my activities and my life in genral.I wish you look in to the practise of tribalism in Africa.Becuase this on like
racism but in more primitive
way and it is killing us each and everyday.I know i can count on you.Thanks,tyra cos i know you can help.I LOVE YOU.
Forever remain your fan

Hi Tyra, i just wanted to say i'm glad you made the distinction on the show that being muslim doesn't mean you are middle eastern. But, i couldn't help notice on your recap section for this show on racism that the first paragraph says "Season two kicked off with the audience divided into racial groups of White, Black, Muslim, Latino and Asian people" .. muslim is not a racial group. In fact, the black, latino and asian person can all be muslims. There are black muslims, white muslims, and you name it. Race and religion are two different things. I've often told people where i come from and that i am muslim and they look at me like "how can that be?"...i'm glad atleast that we are educating people with shows like yours. I hope everyone realizes one day that all the hate that goes on in the world because of race or religion is all so useless and a waste of time and in some cases, human life. I live in Canada and have endured too much racism to even post here, but i will just say that racism still exists in 2006 and people are still ignorant and it will take a very long time before the differences between people of different ethnic backgrounds are closed. The more we pick on each other and call each other names etc., the less we will be able to ever understand each other. Thank you.

Dear Tyra and only Serious Readers:

I did watch the show, and came up with these crucial and critical comments that have hurt millions of people as I read and I spoke to other people who watched the show "Who do you think has it more worse?" and the Muslim Lady only the one who is under the question; so let us break this down into 4 key elements:

1. Is that a question (but the answers is there i.e. Muslim Lady) or closed poll with un-negotiation vote?

2. We saw several races, but one religion? Okay, first let us define races and religion one by one and see the different. Second, to put it simply, Tyra presented: White & Black, Latino & Asian (Who All Share the Same religion), but only Muslims and … mmm where is the other side the Jews?! So please be fair and present both sides or don't. That's if you really don’t want to hurt someone or focus the light on one group of religion!

3. Due to the show which is all about "Opinions", then there is no problem for any one to present his/her opinion because it is an "OPINION" and it is not arguable. I do not like the Muslim Lady reply because she should have reacted better than what she said; of course it's due to the sensitive and hot discussion. However, the Black woman, the Muslim woman, should not open there mouth not until they know what/why did happen before/on/after 9/11, what is being said and covered in the news, and what will happen if they say something. All in all, the blame should be pointed on two things: the Media, and what kind of education the two women got. So, the Black woman should be more open-minded and do not be like kids who just listen, believe, react, and act only from one source. The Muslim lady should at least say: I understand that this is your opinion but NOT a fact and there is no argue about that; but please do not say because of the news say this (whatever the black woman said) but say in my opinion, because you are presenting yourself as a kid if you say because of the news in front of the audiences that you listen and believe, not listen and search! It is because the black woman is lazy and don’t want to do some research, if she does not, then pleases remain silence! From hear we can end racism as the subject of the show suggested!

4. The other Muslim lady who does not wear the "Hegab", she should not say wearing such cloth is considered as a personal decision. NO! IT IS NOT PERSONAL DECISON! Hegab is MUST BE WEARED AMONG STRANGE MEN AS ISLAM DETAILED THAT (for who are the strangers to Muslim women). Those people like the lady with out the Hegab is considered Taboo in Islam that breaks her faith and believe; and those who are missing up the image of Islam for every one has her own standards in Islam, if so, please do not say Islam said that, but say it is my own thing, do not highlight under the Islam Topic, which consequently bring this statement: NOT EVERY MUSLIM IS AN ISLAMIC ORIENTED! That's why not every Muslim Woman is considered a convertible bomb here and there, if some one thought of it like this, not a problem, it's all coming out that someone's dirty, backward, and driven mind. If it's a fact, then why all Muslim women in the USA do not bomb??? It’s not fear of the US government, it is how Islam commanded Muslims to be peaceful not terrorists! It's all under this umbrella: ((in Islam peace is the rule while war is the exception!)) Thank you!

Question: How can we end these stereotypes?
Answer: think of others as a Human-being just like you (sleep, eat, work, and will die) just how they treat you, NOT what we listen about them here and there in the news or among people.

Message:
If you are judgmental, please bring both groups (Muslims Women and Other religious groups) and weight both groups' positives and negatives sides, then see who wrights more "worse" deeds? And that's Justice!

Hey Tyra,
I haven't had a lot of time because I've been bundled down with homework. I saw the show on racism. I think its pathetically sad that it still exists. People can't get it through their heads that race shall never make a difference in who anyone is. I remember one time I was in Cherry Hill (not New Jersey)with my friend Ciara and I am honest-to-God telling you that I was the only white person there. I felt really out of place and lonely. I can't remeber how long I was there, but I felt the stare of people all around me. I saw some of them stare at me. They were staring at me like what the hell is that white girl doing there. See people think that racism doesn't happen against white people, but they're all wrong. I'm not saying we have it worst, but think every race has it as an equal amount. We stay lovely and beautful inside and out for life and remember that I love you cause I'm such a good fan!~!

To the poster (Leah) who talked about a looong email not getting through....ever heard of technical difficulties? Maybe you should write it again.

On a side note, I thought the show was good a good concept in general - but agree that some of the guests needed to be better. As many have mentioned, Native American's weren't represented, etc. I hope to see more shows like this, covering other races/religions. etc!!!

Dear Tyra,
My name is Etoyia Frazier and I am from Jacksonville, Florida. The show on racism really shows who is really who in the world. I think people are more so depicted on their attitudes rather than the color of their skin. The middle eastern woman lashed out at the black woman and told her to educate herself, that showed alot of ignorance. No matter how upset you are you never display ignorance when you are trying to defend who you supposedly really are, and reprsenting those like you. I am african, native american, a bit of irish and i also have japenese in my blood line. I am very proud of me. I have gotten a bit darker and I think it is beautiful and suits me well. Where I am from and the place I call america racism will never end. There will always be a war not because of soley on our skin color, but because people think that because of our skin color, one race seems to be better than the other and has more power which is true to certain extent. Not all of us are the cause of this, but we frown on those that are. I was told Merry Christmas one time, and I replied Happy Kwanzaa. It was a person of caucasion skin, who said I don't understand why you celebrate Kwanzaa. She said why not celebrate christmas. Basically she was saying that your people were brought here and made to do everything else, you should also take part in our real or not real customs and ways of life.So I explained to her about christmas and why we celebrate Kwanzaa! She got the bigger picture. Interracial relationships are frowned on greatly here. That's why I have few friends because I choose to hang out with all of The Creators children. White, black, spanish, indian, asian, chinese, japenese,etc... I grew up in the projects all of my life but have an IQ of 115. I am currently a 22 year old single mother of three, with my own place, my own car and doing it without recieving cash from the state or getting child support. I am also getting ready to go to interior design school this winter in orlando, I am also enrolled in college persuing my degree in paralegal. I am also taking courses to become a taxpreparer this tax season. My children attend magnet schools. My 7 year old is taking up spanish at her school. I speak some spanish, french, sign, arabic, and a bit of swahilli. No really I do! I have a high school diploma. My children don't have three different baby daddy's. People always tell me that I am not from here because i talk proper and i carry myself very mature.People think I am 26 or 27. But they tell me that i look 16. I wear a size 7 and am very healthy. I have been an honor roll student coming up in school and have maintained a great gpa. I am driven by my goals. Racism will stop when each individual themselves realizes that it isn't that serious, one can beat the odds. Thank you and blessed be!

My feelings are hurt. I don't watch your show much, maybe bits and pieces here and there. I found this particular show "How You Can Help End Racism" very interesting, as I myself have experienced racism my whole life. I then sit down at my computer, type up a blog, as a newcomer, and have yet to see my comments posted. It's been two days since the show's been on, and my post is still not up. Thanks Tyra

Hi Tyra,
I really admire the fact that you and your staff had the guts to talk about a topic that nobody wants to exist admits, but still exists. As a young, darkskinned African American woman, I encounter racism on a daily basis. It is unfortunate that some people refuse to try to understand that African Americans endure more frequent instances of racism. I took Professor Jeffrey Decker's (one of the experts on Tyra's show) UCLA course on interracial dynamics. The class was good in that it raised questions. The bad thing was that African American students extremely underrepresented, so often the discussions where coming from a predominately Asian American perspective. All sides, I feel, were not equally heard. For example, a question asked one day was whether or not people would be scared to go to Watts (a predominately black segment of south central L.A.) An Asian American student answered no. Rather than questioning why, the mediator went on without addressing the answer. Instead of automatically going back to our own "camps", it would be more productive to listen equally to each other. Listening is necessary, because it is impossible to know someone else's story, because you have not lived it. I know the physical, mental, and emotional pain that are caused by the way I'm treated. I am open minded. Personally, I honestly could care less what someone looks like as long as they are open minded as well. Its so rare for me to find this in other people though, when it comes to how I'm treated. There are those that claim openmindedness, but only to certain races? That's ridiculous! As a college student, it physically hurt me to my core when I heard that comment yesterday about the African American woman being assumed to be a welfare mom. Statistics show that the largest percentage of women on welfare ARE NOT black! So the question is, why do people still think this way? I think it is a lack of interaction with other people, a lack of diverse social situations. At my college (UCLA), I have been stared menacingly at, with the utmost hatred, by strangers I don't even know. Just going about my business like everyone else. There have been instances where people don't want to sit by me (even if there is no other available seat). People have clutched their purses to them as I walk by. I was completely ignored by a student in my dorm when I tried to say hello (he heard me, he looked at me, but didn't respond). When I ran into him recently and calmly told him that I thought it was rude, he told me it was "cultural differences" and that I was being too sensitive. So not only do I have to deal with this ignorance, but then I'm not supposed to oppose it? How else will it stop? You can't have your cake and eat it too. I'm asking people to be more self aware of their own behavior. Maybe it is done unconsciously, I don't know. Maybe people don't realize they are looking at me hatefully. Maybe they don't realize they are staring at me like I'm some sort of exhibit. The sad thing is, at school I deal with this on a daily basis, every day that I'm there. It is extremely depressing, so much so that I'm seeking therapy, to learn how to deal with this pain. It physically hurts. It hurts my heart. It breaks my heart. There is all this talk about Blacks getting into schools solely on the basis of race. I don't know where those places are, but affirmative action is dead at my school. The percentage of blacks is about 2 percent, if that. This means that I am the only one in my class, or one of a few in my dorm. But maybe I wouldn't feel so out of place of people didn't treat me like a leper. I am an attractive young woman. In my family's neighborhood, I got plenty of attention, and positive comments on my appearance. But at school, I get questioned about why my butt is so big, or patronized when people tell me your dark, but at least your not "really dark" as if its a compliment. These comments reveal what people really think. It is so hard to try to keep opening myself to meeting new people, because I usually get burned bad. In freshman year, one of my first college experiences was with a Korean roommate who wouldn't even speak to me for an entire year (despite my many attempts to break the ice). We would literally sit in our room without speaking. I would catch her staring, but when I looked back, she'd turn away. I've walked into highend stores and been ignored. One time I walked into a store a small shoe store near the university, and as I walked in everyone literally froze and stared. There have been times that I'm in a public restroom somewhere on campus and people will walk in and see me, and turn right back out. Extremely weird, a twilight zone moment. I've walked by groups of white and Asian students who are having a group conversation. As I walk by, the talking stops, and everyone literally stares at me approaching to the point I walk by. How does this make me feel? Let's just say that this is the first time I've questioned my own beauty? I would pick myself apart trying to figure out why I was being stared at so much. Is it my walk? My clothes? My hair? Or is it just my skin? It is so painful to have people make you feel that something is wrong with you. It messes with your self esteem really bad. I have to tell myself that I'm beautiful. That God created me just the way I was meant to be. A pretty black girl, and there's no other way I want to be. Black is beautiful too. It is so hypocritical to me that these are the people who are going to walk right back into my same class and talk about various social injustices. I guess what I'm trying to say is that not only do people apparently see either welfare mom, or thief, or "threatening person" written across my forehead. The very fact that I exist is threatening to some people. Why? Nobody has any idea how painful that is unless they went through it. There has been no "normal college experience" for me. And I think this is something that should get more light. The stereotype is that no Blacks are there, but some are. And its not easy. Some people can't deal with the pain and exclusion in a school where they hardly exist and are so feared. Nobody wants to speak to me. People are afraid of me. So they leave because the world is mean. To those that might claim this a naive way to feel, try living it... day in and day out... knowing that it is just because of how you look. It is a pain that is almost unbearable. But I stick with it. I'm still living. I just wish that living wasn't so damn hard for such a stupid reason. People have to remember that individuals are individual. Not stereotypes. I'm not stupid, a thief, ignorant, and whatever other played out media stereotype people see. If anything let's not derive all our information about other people from media. Let's think about why certain people are portrayed the way they are. The way that young African American women are portrayed of in the majority of media (as promiscuous, bitchy, stupid) could not be farther from what I actually am. My experiences prove the ability of media to brainwash people with weak minds into believing anything. How else do you explain my treatment. People don't treat you like your nothing unless they believe your nothing. People wouldn't treat me like I'm a bitch without even knowing me, unless they already have the assumption that I am one. I wouldn't have had a white guy who's never been with a black woman tell me that he was attracted to black girls because he thinks they are more "sexual" if it didn't have to do with media. How else do you explain this? A man who has never even dated a black girl, claims that they are more sexual. From where are they deriving their information? If your only exposere to a different race is the media, this can lead to ignorance. You have to see everyday people living their everyday lives. I'm in college on my ability, not because I was given a chance. I earned my chance like everybody else. I also think that it is absolutely CRUCIAL that we have more equal representation of all groups in colleges. There have been times when I'm in a discussion class at school, and someone says something ignorant or culturally inaccurate, and I am the only black person there to correct them. I can't help but ask myself, what would this discussion be like when there are none of us present. Diversity is necessary for the learning process. If you don't have any of the actual people there about whom you are speaking, then how do you really know if you are learning anything. Experience can prove the best textbook "studies" wrong. The reverse side of this is that if I am always the only black person there, I am assumed to be the expert on "everything and everybody black". Black culture is too diverse for this to be possible. I can only give my own individual point of view. I'm tired of feeling like whatever I do or however I act is representative of Black people everywhere. The whole group should not be judged based on a few individuals (nobody does this to whites). And I'm a woman. What about the African American male point of view? (I think it would be interesting to have a show of the same nature with men as well). And this allegation that people are being "given" jobs is completely bogus. They are equally qualified. And we should question why a commpany is going to hire minorities only to keep from being sued. The goal should be to represent what America is, diverse. Its not a homogenous society. So why the hell is there this ignorance? Because people need to break out of their safety zones and live. If you can like Tyra Banks, Shaquille O'neal, Oprah Winfrey, etc. then why not accept and maybe even learn to like "ordinary" Black people? Maybe these hypocrisies aren't visible to people who don't live with this unnecessary crap. I don't want to think that this is how the world has to be. And so when people tell me that this is just the way it is, I refuse to accept it. Because if no one challenged anything we would still be in the back of the bus. We don't have to any more, and I realize that we are not slaves anymore as people are so quick to say to put it in the past. But in order to understand where these stereotypes emerge (has anyone ever wondered why the Black stereotypes are all so negative?, not to say stereotypes are good, but in our case they are extremely negative), we must admit the nature of our history. This means not only knowing it, but accepting it, and realizing prejudice carries down generations. Laws can be amended, but ideas die hard. There are no legal laws separating us, yet we still separate ourselves. Ideas reflect how we will live, and how we will treat others. Usually, those who refuse to believe these things are those who have no clue whatsoever about how it feels to be hated and feared because of what you look like. And if you don't, please, at least listen and stop denying it. America is not without its evils. I don't think one hour is nearly enough time to cover it all: the sexual stereotypes, the media misrepresentaition and underrepresentaion, etc. I hope that the Tyra show will continue press those hot button issues, because no one else seems to.

You cannot end racism because racism will never end! It's been going on this many years and it's going to keep going on there's nothing that anyone can do to stop it. Everybody has there own reasons of different races and in my opinion it'll never go away.

i thought the show on racism was very well done, but was disapointed that the native americans were not represented. in minnesota they are still very discriminated against. it would have been nice to see them have a voice. it seemed to me that alot of the discrimination was not really based on race, but more on class.

First of all thank you for correcting yourself when you classified the Muslim women in your audience as Middle Eastern, but I would like to point out that Arabs that aren't Muslims are discriminated against also.
Here is my story:
I am a German, Irish and Puerto Rican woman from small town primarily Caucasian Central Illinois. I moved to the Orlando area and have since married a Christian Moroccan Immigrant. We had considered moving to Illinois (where living is less expensive and we would have my family's support system) to continue our education, I strive to obtain my Master's and my husband's goal is to finish his Bachelor's, but unfortunately it is not safe for us to make this move.
An experience that my mother faced made me realize how ugly it could be if we were to move home... home.... My mother's neighbor (unknowing that her beloved son-in-law was Arab) came to her bragging that “he had to chase some Arabs (in a country accent) out of town.” My mom replied, “How did you know they were Arab, they could have been Latino (he also is unaware that my mother's mother migrated to the US from Puerto Rico). Then she informed me that I should not let my husband walk around town without me.... this is AMAZING and DISGUSTING.
Now this is where your discussion of who has it worse comes into play.
You are correct in saying that in the past the African American (this term makes me laugh, because my husband IS from Africa and he is not allowed to check this box on surveys, according to America he is Caucasian, he is brown as brown is going to get)... I digress... in the history of my community black people were the target... interracial couples were socially condemned. My mother married a black man and although at times it proved uncomfortable, there was NEVER a question of safety.
Now Black people are much more excepted in the community and now all of that hatred has been focused on the unknown.... the Arab culture.... and please note that I am focusing on Arabs... I understand that there are a great deal of American Muslims that have been targeted but can you imagine being an immigrant with an Arab accent that believes in Christianity, an amazing patriotism towards American and its heritage and people refuse to get to know you, your pure soul and heart of gold and only focus on your physical and linguistic characteristics and call you a terrorist?
Why should we hide in the cultural melting pot of the Orlando/ Kissimmee area because his outer appearance can be mistaken as Latino?
I can not believe some of the ignorant comments I heard on the radio yesterday, 9/11. I understand that not every American has had the privilege to surround themselves by Muslims, but I wish they could so they would understand that it wasn't only the twin towers that were struck down that day, it was also the Islamic faith! A man called into a radio station and said, “It angers me that the Islamic community has not spoken out enough against terrorism” and the radio announcer agreed. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!! Every single Muslim I have ever met has expressed their pain and anger against Osama Bin Laden and every single terrorist that hides behind the Islamic faith. The terrorists have tainted their faith and created a hostile environment for the Muslims/ Arabs in America to live. Just because they can't hold press conferences every day and don't have highly profiled newspapers circulated every day denouncing the terrorists does not mean that is not what they feel in their hearts every minute of every day.
I am a Caucasian, Latina, wife of an Arab.... I have felt all types of racism, personally and through the eyes and heart of every black, white, and brown loved one that has passed through my life.

Dear Tyra,
your show was very touching on all aspects, from all point of views, its sad to know how we as african americans are viewed. I've made a vow to learn others for who they are and not to get caught up in racism myself, sometimes we can see everyone else except ourselves. we all experience racism its just at different degrees. The show brought tears to my eyes to the point that i repented to GOD for not being fair in my own thinking. at times wrong is wrong.

As an African American teen in New York City I have dealt with racism. Whether being followed in a shopping mall, or getting on the bus and a white person holding their bag thinking im going to try to steal from them. African American people are actually the most dicriminated against in the country. For over 400 yrs and still is. But I think it is wrong to think just because a muslum or arab women wears her clothing from her country to say she or her brothers are terrorists, or to say all spanish women are maids. Racism need to stop. I wish in my high school. I could start a ethnic club talking about different cultures and opinions on things. That is a way for people to know about racism. I think if people actually would befriend people then there would not be to much rasicm.

I don't appreciate the fact that the so called "WHITE GIRL" was not given a chance to speak. It was all rounded out to "white" people being so bad. Read history in other countries where white people were the slaves. We are just as discriminated against as everone else, but we never get a chance to tell our side of the story. It is always about the "people of color" WELL WHITE IS A COLOR!!!!!!! Some people just have to get over it. People want to always throw the race card and it has nothing to do with it. We are not racist ....you just want to use it as an excuse to start something that doesn't need to be started. For example --- A black person fires another black person from a job they think OK.--- A white person fires a black person... and they think RACIST. Now who starts it?

Your show on racism was very enlightening. It is sad to know that people still have such steryotypical views even in the year 2006. However, it is sad that you did not mention Native Americans in your show since they do see racism everyday as well.

Hi Tyra !

My Name is Anna and I'm from Hoboken New Jersey. The show you did about racism was so hurtful and so hard to deal with. However, I believe it was a great topic. I liked how every culture was divided, and how everyone was being so honest in the room. But honesty hurts, I been in racial acts before and it did bother alittle. I have a large group of friends who are different race and I dont intend on talking about them because I know it feels horrible. but to end this I would like to say I love you and your show and i watch it everyday!

One of your guests made an interesting observation... pointing out that when a white person commits a crime they are treated as an individual -- their entire race or religion is not stereotyped; yet when Osama bin Laden committed a crime - his entire region and religion was stereotyped. Her comment brought me to think about Timothy McVeigh bombing a building in Oklahoma... why wasn't everyone of his race or religion demonized?

The show about racism yesterday was very informative. I was born and raised in a country in Africa,came to the US 3 yrs ago. When l arrived here,l settled in a city predominantly white/mexican and l never experienced any kind of racism. Later on l moved to a city in the midwest predominantly african american and to my surprise l came across a lot of discrimination,especially when l talk cuz these people realize l have a different accent,yes this is true cuz l am from Africa and of course have an accent. I think the most difficult thing is getting discriminated against by people of your own race and its not even fair.

I loved the show on racism but I was dissappointed you did not include Native Americans. We have been here since before America was America and are a minority. I think we are left out a lot during racial discussions but we do exist and are hurt when we are forgotten.

Hello Tyra, First of all I would like to say that this was a good show idea. I couldn't beleve that a black woman as myself could be so closed! When I see women wraped up like that I think that they are either Indian or Musilem. And personaly if had seen the woman wo made the ignorant coment walking down the street I would have thought of her as a HOOD RAT excuse my french. And I am from the ghetto. But the people I think who have it worse is white americans who accept blacks in their lives and are constantly ridiculed by prejudice white america.

I am Mexican, and live in Canada. My husband is African American, and my baby came out looking white, with green eyes!!!
I say this because I really believe we are all mixed, whether it has been recently or long ago in our past. We are all one.

I watched the show and I was not surprised to hear the comments that people made. I have always known that people of all races make comments about another race. They might say it to their face or behind their backs, but it is said.

I have always been intrigued by race and race relations, and I have dedicated myself to researching the background in the area where I am from in Mexico, as well as reading much of my husband's history to fully understand him and his views. He is very proud of being African (American) and always mentions how many African Americans show racism towards Africans! That is so shocking to me.

When I was growing up in Mexico, I never experienced or heard any racist comments or ever looked at race or the colour and features of people. I lived in Mexico, we are all mexicans there and that's it. It was until I grew up, and payed attention to the different races that makes up Canada and experienced racism. When I went back to Mexico for a visit I saw my hometown with a different view. I noticed that everyone there was very divierse. My family members ranged from blonde with blue or green eyes, to indian looking, to african looking. I began to study much of the history and learned that there were many african slaves brought to the area by the spaniards and when they passed the law that no more african slaves could be brought to mexico they brought "negritos" from indonesia and the phillipines. Through so much research I realized that I could be mixed with so much! I have been asked if I am Native american, Asian (philipino mostly) west indian, dominican... the list goes on.

When I asked people in my hometown in mexico what their ethnic background was, they couldn't tell me. the simply replied " I am mexican" and that was all they could say. We have embraced ourselves as mexican (which is not a race, but more a culture) We stopped looking at race and skin color the way that they do in America.

Maybe it's the constant immigration that stalls America's acceptance of all people. I would like to say to all the people that are posting that they weren't included that there are many ethnicities in this world and everyone can't be on the show, but I do agree that Native Americans especially, should have been mentioned.

I am Mexican, but what makes up the majority of my ethnicity is Spanish and Indian (Native AMERICAN) I said it! The majority if mexicans are native americans and when I say that it's because we all know that America was first inhabited by "Native Americans" believed to be from mongolian descent (Asia). We do start all the way in norther Canada with the Inuit, first Nations, and work our way down to the Aztec, Mayas and Incas all the way down to South America. We were here first and the majority of our population was wiped out!

I couldn't relate with the Mexican American that was on the show. To me she had too much of a white American mentality, and way to life to speak on behalf of the whole Mexican population who really gets it the worse, and that's why she didn't represent us.

Even though I do not live in the USA I feel so bad for what my people have to endure in the US. I know that many of the mexican people cross the border illegally, but that really is the only way that they can come across. When I was a little girl, I applied for an American visa 8 times, because I wanted to visit Disneyland,and I kept being denied, because I am mexican. They prefer to give that space to someone else. Now, "mexicans" were kicked out of the US many years ago (even though that was their land for centuries before) but I won't get into that.

I have rambled on about my people, and I know that it is because I can understand and relate to myself and my people. We are all humans and we relate to those we have most in common with, but we really need to embrace and learn about other cultures.

Thank you Tyra for your show. I love it!!

you know that we all still face signs of racsims. It not fair but it life so must look past all of these things to better our self. So we our human all of us white black african mexcain latino & ect.

I live in america but i was born in jamaica and the whole race relations issue still boggles me. I do not understand why it is such a serious issue. I personally have never experienced racism. My father is chinese and my mom is black, so I am considered to be a light-skinned black person. What is so ironic to me is when some of the people that claim to be racially senstive would say positive things about their race but negative things about someone else. Everyone wants their race or their situaiton empathized, but someone else is overlooked or demeaned. It's strange that people see the color of skin before they see an individual, and thus assume things about this person solely based on their skin color. One of the women said that stereotypes have some truth to them, which I agree. But then it is just like gossip or perspective. There may be some truth to it at times, but it is not the full specturm of the situation. So, stereotypes are generalizations about a group and not the character of every person in that group. Thus to some extent futile. The saying that 'what you see is what you get' is foolishness. A person is always more than what they appear - always. Anwyay I have rambled on enough, but the race thing still perplexes me. I hope one day Tyra will have a show asking caribbean people about race and things pertaining to it.

I was impressed with your show's topic. I love my circle of friends who are very mix in cultures. I'm half puerto rican and half mexican. Doesn't suprise me when I met other people from a different race. I really like how Tyra mention the open racism on the middle eastern people. Its soo true. I even caught myself being a little skeptical after 9/11 with middle easterners.

Ms. Tyra,

Thank you for including Asian Americans on your show on race. Racial discourse – academically or socially - has been a dichotomy: Black and White. Many times, the general public won’t hear or read about discrimination stories about other racial groups, especially with Asians. We are a group that is usually marginalized and forgotten.

For example, I’m from California and there have been numerous stories about the United Farm Workers and most of these stories have been Chicano-centric. Yet it was the Filipino farm works that had initiated the Delano Grape Strike. They then asked Cesar Chavez and the largely Latino labor group to lend their support. (BTW, this was among the first large multi-ethnic efforts in the United States.)

Muslim stories usually center around countries in Asia Minor, Middle East. Yet, the largest Muslim population is found in Southeast Asia: Indonesia is home to more than 182 million Muslims. Iran, for example, has just over 62 million Muslims.

And I just also wanted to include my reverse Affirmative Action story: As an As-Am woman, I was discriminated against at a college campus where I was applying for admission. I was taking extension classes and earned a B average. I was guided by an African American admissions advisor, who helped my then boyfriend, who was also Black, in his admission process. Most of our conversations took place over the phone. She assured me that I would have a really good chance in being accepted. Then she wanted to meet me. When I entered her office, the first thing she said was, ‘You’re not Hispanic, you’re Asian.” I never told her my ethnicity, I think she made her own assumptions because my name was Hispanic in origin. Her friendly demeanor quickly turned serious, as if I had offended her. She said that she could do anything for me and that I would probably be turned down for admissions. (There was already a high population of Asians on campus.) I didn’t even get a chance to sit down.

This experience hasn't soured my view on Affirmative Action. In fact, my parents are products of that system. I just want people to not forget that Asian Americans too get discriminated against.

Again, thanks for giving Asian Americans the opportunity to participate in this discussion.

I had the worst racism slapped across my face when i was in Lousiana.After i got married,i found emails from my father in law to my husband calling me all sorts of things and asking my husband to be careful of me because of my religion and obviously he have a big problem with my race.and that really hurts.

I'm Chinese and have lived in Oakland, CA nearly all my life and I think it's a fairly racially diverse city. I've interacted with African-Americans, Latinos, Caucasians, and of course Asians.

I've learned from this show that our personal experience with other races is based on where we live. Those guests who did not any interaction with a given race will take stereotypes from where ever they can find it. I can only surmise that they get this through the media and television shows.

If we are to stop racism, perhaps we should start with Hollywood.

Dear Tyra,
I'm glad i chose stay at home tonight. Your show was a blessing to me because as a black brazilian i've seen so much racism since i got here. Feels good to know that people can be over it and use it to grow stronge. Nowadays everything is relative, but it's weird how the "beauty concept" is still absolute. What really means to be educated, is it to get an american degree?
I'm beautiful and smart.

Hi Tyra!

I found myself crying while watching your show today. I just can't believe that people truly believe in the stereotypes of different races - especially people who have obviously felt the pain of discrimination. A good friend of mine once told me that there aren't too many people like me (pretty much blind to race), but I never knew how true her opinion of me was, until today. I am of Armenian descent, which is Middle Eastern (not Muslim). Not too many people are aware of my nationality or culture - and because most Armenians are not Muslim, they find it hard to say they are Middle Eastern, becuase of course the first thought people have when they hear that is terrorist. In actuality, Armenian is much closer to the Greek culture. My whole life people have questioned my ethnicity - it's almost like a guessing game - I've been assumed to be just about every race, or mix of race. My daughter is mixed - Armenian and African-American (gorgeous!) and my boyfriend is Chicano (his family if originally from Mexico). My friends are of all different races - I've always surrounded myself with a diverse group of people with different backgrounds. I do see the stares from people trying to figure out how we all go together, but I never knew such horrible thoughts could go through their minds while looking at any of us. I'm well aware of common racial stereotypes, I just don't really believe them. I think the differences we have are a wonderful thing - it's so interesting to learn about different cultures, and all races are so beautiful. How sad that its 2006 and we're still dealing with such horrible issues.

Nikki
Phoenix,AZ

Tyra that was a good episode , i was touched by how you talked about racism.

I found it absurd to hear the Asian chick and White chick complaining about racism. Asian chick complained about someone asking her to act Mongolian or kids playing with her. Well, first can someone really who doesn't know the asian culture tell the difference?! I seen a Cambodian girl who looks Japanese. Whatever. As, for kids not playing with her...hmmm.. I don't know. I grow up in Italy. I was only the black girl in my WHOLE TOWN. I never had any type of racism. BTW, both of my parents are black!
I felt bad for the white girl. She couldn't defend herself from words. Yes, words! Women are always mean to each other.Plus, she looked afraid of her own shadow. Uh Whatever!

Aren't Asians the Model Minority? What should they be complaining about in this century? Question: How many Asian Americans are proud to be asian? I heard of so many Asians who don't know if they should identify themselves as either Asian or White. I'm not talking about Eurasians. I'm talking about Asians born here in America.

Didn't Katrina show exactly how the American government feels about black people? AIDS is a big epidemic in the black american community. 60% of new HIV cases are black women. Does the American government care? Nope. When AIDS epidemic was killing white gay men in the 80's it was top issue on the news.

Can could anyone name a missing black child from the news?

I doubt greatly the racism that Hispanics and Blacks could equal to Asians and Whites.

Hi my name is Andrea Hall, even though my name might sound like I'm white I'm not I'm actually a latina. I was born in Guatemala city I came to the United States when I was 7. When I saw the show on who has it worse when it comes to racism in my opinion I beleive its black people. I dont categorize them as being african american cause I know that not all black people come from Africa. The thing that really affected me when i was watching the show was that us latinas were categorized as maids it did bother me but that was not the thing that bother me it was actually that someone made a comment that we do it cause we dont have a green card and its done because of that. According to what I know spanish or latinos are not the only people in this country with out green cards or social security cards. Yeah we might be the majority but we are not it. Just like some black people come from the carribbean but just because their skin color is dark that does not mean they come from Africa. Its very sad to see that the world its divide by people of different color that they just judge you by your skin color, or by the way you look instead of getting to know someone and from their make your judgement. WE ARE ALL GOD'S CHILDREN AND HE MADE US LIKE THIS FOR A REASON. If we were all to look alike and we would all look the same would you like that. Let's love one another and lets stop RACISM.

Andrea Hall, from Easton, Pennsylvania

Wow, the show was phenomenal today. I was captivated by the method in which they exposed racism between different cultures. I was raised in a small Midwestern town, where I was not exposed to many other cultures. Therefore, when I moved away to college, I needed to adjust to the high percentage of African-Americans in the town. I didn’t realize how much I actually feared them. More of that fear was from ignorance and unfamiliarity, not what I would call racism. I joined a church, of what you could call a “black church.” The primary population there is black. This experience opened my eyes to how sheltered I had been, and I wouldn’t change the exposure for anything.

WOW! This new blog thing is really taking off. It's amazing that we live in a country that allows us free speech and the opportunity to share our thoughts in an open forum.

A lot of people mentioned Native American's and their lack of portrayal on the show today. Before you judge too harshly, isn't it possible they weren't able to get a Native American to appear on the show? TV is planned and plans don't always work out. What if the Native American they had booked cancelled at the last minute or got sick?

There are so many races and different types of people, I'm sure it was thought about and for some reason not reflected in the finished product.

Big props to TTBS for taking on such a hot topic, as proven by the amount of comments you've already received!

Keep making us think!

I wished that I didn't miss the first part of the show. Although I saw the last half, and read that some races where left out. I agree with skin color has nothing to do with anything. It's only a color. We all have pride in who we are so why make it extreme with the way we dress, talk or act. We all have feelings, pain, happiness, need jobs, have families to support and live in the USA and get along. I don't feel that because our ancestors were treated poorly that we now should be treated any differently. It was history that our children are learing about, so leave it in the books. It's so sad that my daughter went to class and all the black students sat on one side of the room. They make it that way themselves and say that the others are racist. I also feel that when the adults talk to their children about their history and what is available to them because of the history and because they are black they take advantage of it. I am a white woman and my history is from Ireland, Germany, France, I don't go back in history to find out what happened to them and expect better treatment because my family went through a tough time hundreds of years ago, to even this century. I don't know if they were slaves, maybe they where. It was all history so why do people get better treatment than others? My daughter is going to college next year and some of the applications I read for scholarships and information I see about the colleges say only for African American or other than Caucasion. What's up with that. My daughter, just because she is white, should have an equall opportunity just like everyone else, no matter what skin color she is. If the caucasions had a scholarship just for white people, we would be racist. I'm really tired of hearing about all this racist stuff. I know it's out there, I am not, but know people that are. I'm sorry that the one black woman was so upset because she wasn't dark enough, well neither is my dauther for equall opportunities in life when she hasn't even finished high school. I have always taught my daughter not to be racist and that God made us all equall. Now I tell her that you can't apply for some of these scholarships because you aren't black or another race. You're too white. I don't like discrimination, it's not fair, everyone needs to be treated equally. Lisa

I try not to discremate against anyone, I work with a lot of the Mex. ladys, They are really nice. What I am upset about is the fact that some of the religions want us to give up some of or rights, Like saying "God Bless"or "Merry Christmas" Some people want us to remove our flag or put theirs above ours. You go to their counrty and try that.

I am a first time writer to this post and so I wanted to just leave a few comments. I watched your show earlier today in Charlotte, NC and was shocked that you did not include Native Americans. I am one-sixtenth Cherokee Indian on my mother's side. I remember my Great-grand mother and my grandmother telling me about how her family had to hide the fact that they were Indian so as to not be discrimminated.
I am not saying in the least that African Americans were not unjustly treated. I know that it was a horrible ordeal to live in slavery and never see home again. Not know where you were from or who your mother and her people were. But, my people were here first and they had their land taken from them. Our women were raped and beaten, our familes ripped out of there homes and sent to a land full of disease and things they had no knowledge of. Not given proper food or clothing, just sent on the trail of tears, for land. We the Cherokee, did not fully become a nation again until 1982. We have had to suffer sterotypes that are cruel and unjust, very much like African Americans.
I know that reading this, you may think, well she is just a white girl who is part Cherokee, she doesn't really know. But I do know that my family kept the secret of their heritage till my mother was grown. That is not fair to my family and I am sure the same was happening in other homes across America.
Native Americans have had the low rung for years. We are the MOST inpoverished of any ethic group. That I learned in Sociology. No one knows that. I think no one cares. Please, next time there is a racal debate on you show, which I watch and love, please remember the people,whose land your house is on today, lost there lives and customs to create the big old US of A.

Excellent 9/11/06 show. The basis for racism is ignorance and fear.

As a retired social worker I'd rather watch your show than the 'View'. My assessment: very intelligent; people do not interrupt each other; no egos to contend with. A good balance of serious topics and the 'fluff' stuff. I commend you and your producers. You are attracting more and more viewers. Keep up the excellent format.

Hi I just wanted to remind ya'll that east indian people are asian too. F.Y.I. India is located in Asia.

i just finished watching your show, and i think it was a really good idea. At points you have to let the world know its not acceptable, skin is a part of you, but isn't who you are, it doesn't define your personality and what you can accomplish in life. its sad to see how we judge people on their appearance. We all have different coloured hair and eyes, but why does skin matter so much? no one looks the same and no one ever will. i am a white female currently in highschool, and even though racism isnt as bad as it was before, its still a big issue. I dont see why skin colour matters so much when we are all human and we can't choose what we look like, but we can choose our personality but that's not whats seen first. I actually have had racist remarks thrown at me, i might not have it as bad as some people, but i can still look at the other people and care and feel what they are feeling because the truth is we are all living in this world together, and in order to make it a better place to live we have to work together and help eachother out.

To everyone who posted comments using the excuse the a minority was given preference for a job or acceptance into a college on the basis of the color of their skin needs to realize that they were NOT accepted because the minority happened to be more QUALIFIED. Stop the excuses.

dear tyra,

i thought you did a wonderful job on your show. but i was very suprised that the muslims were included on a show about racism. this is because they are a religious group. i heard you mention this and correct yourself. muslims can be any race at all so this group would be better on a show about predjudism against religious groups. i was also very very very dissapointed that our first nations people were not included. these people too have been discriminated against and pushed into the background by many other groups and individuals. its absolutely appalling and grievious. my children are half first nations, and have had to hide this to many people. first nations are thought of with huge stereo types and many do live in adverse situations. but they are as much people as you and i are. they feel as deeply and love as intensly and suffer as terribly. they have endured stigmatism and racism since men and women began colonizing the new world. they deserve to be included and nutured and most importantly empowered as human beings.

in warmth
machenka

hello Tyra and associates,
I am writing in regards to the racisim show today September 11, 2006. I agree racism and discrimination is everywhere, for races, elders, sexes and children. It is too a common and sadly accepted problem. One concern I would like to put forth is (not just to you, but all when racism is in the spotlight) why are the Native Americans of this world ignored? I know that you can not answer for everyone. No one wants to even recoginze the pain the Native American have endured through the years and still are to this day. They we pushed from their homes, murdered, sent to live on very small reserves unallowed to speak their language, children ripped from their homes to live in residential schools, beaten, forbidden to keep their native names or speak their language. Pushed aside as the inferior race to get the left overs of their once rich and integrial way of life. Many of the native americans have lost their language and culture due to the past, their are only a small handfull that can speak their language. Why are they not recognized as a race? Most of America and Canada have been built on the land which was home to the Natives first.
Discrimination and racism is a reality and a problem. I have personally felt the pain this causes as I know many many of you have too! It is sad and hard! One day I only hope that our children or grandchildren can live in a world where they will not be harmed by these. But we have to start somewhere....

I understand that this is a difficult subject to address and there is no way to speak about all the complexities of racism. I am 27 year old Canadian, whose parents are both from Hong Kong. And it was hard for me to see how under represented Asian people were. The show breifly touched on ideal minority myth of asians being hardworking and smart. But did not mention that it's because of this "clean" prejudice that asians are denied the social services that other minorities are given, while at the same time still being descriminated against. Futher, there are many asians who experience violent and hateful racism, who would have probrably made good use of the oppurtunity to speak about their experiences. Where I live highschool students have even been targeted and died because of racist attacks. Also, although no one frames the chinese working on the railways as slavery, many of them were illiterate and "recruited" by aristocracy (who were working with the white labour traders). These people were often poor and promised that they would be able to either send a lot of money home or bring their families to a new country. Most of the money ended up going to the chinese artistocracy for travel expenses. And both Canada and U.S. created laws that restricted chinese immigration of women and children. And then completely blocked immigration when they felt that the chinese were becoming to populous. Both countries also, interned Japanese Americans/Canadians during the war - and stole all their property and destroyed their lives. I understand that this is not how people frame the asian presence in North America, but the truth for decades the discrimination that we face has not been as immigrants but as citizens being treated as other. The present state of communities of asians struggling with poverty and illiteracy is generally ignored because of middle class, idealistic, stereotyping.

Actually, the brunt of racism against asians revolves around sexaulity or fetishization, the women are sought after in this wierd kinky way. The women are either treated like whores or we are supposed to be really subservient and cutesy, some how not adults. And the men are basically castrated or a-sexualised, like in Details magazine's article "Gay or Asian" which was insulting to both Gay and Asian men. But its almost like asian women are so ultra feminised that the men are made female by proxy.

Again I understand that this is complicated, but I didn't feel that asians were even really heard and I was disappointed that none of the Asians on the show really had anything to say.

I just finished watching the show and some of the comments said were a shock. I believe every race has bad experiences,it makes me very angry and upset that in 2006 there still are these stereo types against certain races. It really touched me today when the audience did the exercise at the end of the show as we all do have similarities and i think some people look past that.I just wish that onwards the world will become a better place and people look past the skin and look of another person. Its what the inside that counts!

Hello gorgeous Tyra. Great show today!! I am 17 years old, and i live in Canada. I just wanted to make a few comments and one correction...When you were talking with the African American Female, with the red tipped hair, she started to rave about how african americans have been discriminated against for 200 years, in comparison to the new light of discrimination towards muslims. My correction for her, and for her comment to someone else with the need to be educated, is to research european history to find out exactly how many years Muslims have been discriminated against. In the 1400's, before the Renaissance, Muslims were either kicked out of europe, assimilated into christianity, or killed in mass numbers because of their religion. Every form of discrimination runs deeper than 200 years, even against africans. That is such a small scale to be placing such a big issue on. I just wanted to make that comment, and i hope that people do not be ignorant, especially of the history of more than this or last century. Oh yes...And OF CANADA!! Come up here, You will see that we are not made of snow, and we do not live in igloos. We have malls, and cars, and beaches...We sometimes have warmer weather than California in the valley i'm from! Just becuase i'm a Caucasian Canadian, doesn't mean that i do not feel discrimination or prejudice, and it doesn't give someone the right to make those prejudices against me either. EDUCATE YOURSELF:D The world will be a much better place if we all try to understand eachother.

Dear Tyra,

Although I believe it is extremely important to address these types of issues (i.e. controversial ones) I believe that you have forgotten an important and hugely historical minority group. While watching your show today I noticed that you did not include any people of Native American heritage. Native Americans have been discriminated against since the "discovery" of the Americas. Their lands, rights and freedoms were taken, forcibly, away from them and never returned. I believe that this was a huge error on the part of your show not to involve this group. This shows the continuing racism towards this group that they were not even considered as candidates on your show. I hope that you will remedy this error in one of your future shows.

Hi Tyra,

I just finished watching your show (Monday, September 11/06) on racism. I am wondering why you didn't include Native Americans in the show. You included Latinos but that is not the same thing. As a Native person I found this very offensive as we have experienced more racism than anyone in North America. As a mother of African and Native American children I agree African Americans do experience alot of racism...but Native Americans are treated worse in many instances and are forgotten about most of the time, like in your show today. I love your show, but please don't be like the others and forget who the original inhabitants of this continent are and act like we don't exist.

Keep up the awesome work!

that was such and amazing show! at the begining i actually started crying, i felt so sad watching that show and seeing that people have stereotypes like that. i thought some of the things people said were a bit mean and i would really love to help put a stop to racism. thanks trya for this show because i never knew racism was this bad because ive never been discriminated against personally, but that's probably cuz im only 13 and i'm growing up in a very multicultural neighborhood. im so proud of you for doing this show thank you!

The focus group was appalling in their reactions to the women. People seem to forget that globalization creates these melting pots that everyone seems to have so many problems with. The melting pot that is North America is what makes us such a unique culture today. What people thought was an understanding community that was going to offer them opportunities they never had, has tunred on them. I am a firm believer in undestanding other cultures, everyone's uniqueness is what makes them special and I think that is what everyone is forgetting these days. We need to be understanding because it is the lack of understanding that creates the need for retaliation, such as the the world trade center incident. We need to be the generation to stop this because we are in the time that will make or break the world, every war has the cause of racism behind it, and if we don't stop it soon that near-in-the-future apocalyse may come sooner than expected and be of our own making. And although 9/11 was a sad event(and i mean no disrespect to anyone's memory), we in North America are so blinded by our own plight that we forget every other thing that happens in the world that kills more people and causes more harm and because it is America no one else matters, do two thousand really compare to 800,000 in Rwanda or the genocide in the Balkans (which only received some attention because it happened in Europe)?

To Tyra and your producers. Bravo overall on a great show today. To look at some of the preceeding entries, I'm not sure some of your viewers got the big picture. It's not about nitpicking over who said what when..it's that everyone has their prejudices...everyone. Even listed above is a sorry argument that "whites" weren't in the slave trade from early on...talk about showing your ignorence just in the name of pride. I'm here to say job well done and admit to a prejudice of my own. When I heard a popular, beautiful model would be getting her own talk show I thought it would be another example of wasted airtime by a beautiful airhead in the name of vanity. I'm sorry and I'm still learning. I was wrong, wrong, wrong. You have a great show, and if Tyra and the production company stays true, this will be a winning show for years to come. Thanks for proving me wrong. I'm not ashamed to say so. Best wishes!

Thank you for your discussion of racism. I am an elementary school teacher in a school where 14 languages are spoken and I am defintely the minority at all school functions. (I am a white woman) In my class we discuss the fact that we look different on outside, but in how we feel and experience lifes interactions with others we are the same. I find that even in Third grade students are coming to school with preconcieved ideas about other people from different races than themselves. Once people are made aware of how we really are similar in most ways there is a slight change in how we treat eachother, or at least this is what I have seen in my classroom. Thank you again for doing this show and showing that everyone is discriminated against in one way or another, and all we can do is control our reactions to those we come in contact with, and to treat others how we want to be treated.

All Africans did not come to America colonies in chains

I am 49 years old and I just like to make the comment that when it comes to racism Blacks seem to have it harder than most races. Your muslism guest can take off the head dress and will not be associated with the terrorist of 9/11, but we have to wear our color always. I dont agree that anyone should have to change, but it can be done.

Tyra,
I am so proud of you and this show! In order for racism to end, there must be a truthful, heatfelt, open and honest discussion on the matter. While I know that every issue would not be accomplished in a 60-minute show, it was one of the best dialogues I have witnessed.

I am a African American woman and I don't know what struck me most- the commentary on the show or the commentary posted here on the website. In any event, I believe that there were clearly comments in both places made just out of pure ignorance and/or lack of experience and exposure.

One commentator here on the site, Stephanie, who studies history is right in one aspect, that a system of slavery was started within the African race and tribal system. However, I wished that she was able to see or understand that the system of slavery that was executed in Africa was much different than the colonial slavery that was practiced in the U.S. In the African system, a person may be slave, but they could move out of that position into one of affluence. Under the American system, there was no opportunity for a slave to move out of their condition (except in New Orleans - and that's a history lesson for another day). It is this system that permeates through America today and the majority of the race (if not all) still suffers from the vestiges of it.

I also agree with other comments in the site regarding the lack of reference to Native Americans in the show.

Although I may not know the extensive history of other cultures with whom I may co-exist with in the U.S., I must co-sign with the two professors that were on the show that African Americans do bear the brunt of racism here in America. What I did learn new however, was why it is so. Because it was not our choice to come here, we share no common thread with other groups that emigrated here (other than maybe life experiences such as, lying, cheating and being discriminated against in general).

I also believe that it is the women of the world who are the change agents of the world. Ladies, it is going to have to start with us. I look forward to the continued dialogue and become more informed and educated regarding other ethnic groups and cultures in America.

I am a very proud All-American girl(w/ Italian heritage). Being an All-American girl I was raised with the belief that We as Americans have our very own American culture and our All-American language... and so on... It is my belief that until the greater # ,if not all, should learn to live with and embrace our American culture as if it were their own and should learn to speak proper English and be as Proud as I am to be an American. Furthermore the black /white thing...well, we don't have a Miss White U.S.A., that would be racist, right? And we don't have an all White American College fund, that would be racist, right? As for religion.. seems most of us have some sort or another, seems hypocritical, to say you even believe in any GOD!! Hmmmm! I guess that's a minute portion of the Ugly Truth.

Racism is a sensitive subject for every individual. Race is one element that we all use to define who we are. It is difficult to find a more emotionally charged topic. I myself, am a 16 year old, white female... what judgements have you already made about me and what i have to say? However, you are entitled to your judgements and i respect that. Racism is based in stereotypes, which are based in generalities that are made about people of a certain race. Negative or positive, there is a reason why the generalities exist. Stereotypes are based in trends. We can't expect for a generality to be true in every case. The only way to defy negative stereotypes is to strive not to become yet another statistic. Race is a difference that exists between people and will always exist and will always be a reason to group people. The other topic that i wish to address, is an overcorrection when it comes to discrimination. I like to call it reverse discrimination. Again, as a white female, this is what effects me personally. Also, as a high school student, college is approaching. I find it absurd colleges are more likely to accept someone of a different race over me, even if they are not on the same academic level as myself. Why should i be punished for being white or having parents who value education? Racism will always exist because people will always generalize about "other" cultures. The generalizations that are made, however, are up to you.

Tyra, I thought that this show was a good idea. However I am saddened by the fact that there were no people of Native American descent involved. Thus, I believe that it is this "group" that "has it the worse" as you -- like so many other people in America -- have once again overlooked them. Others may be discriminated against, but at least they exist.

I am an American girl who is a sikh (a religion that came from India women and men wear turbins) I have seen people of my religion discrimanted against. my mother wears a turbin and i dont because i chose not to be seen as a terroist. After 9/11 i did not want to wear a turbin or things that relates me to being a terrist. my mother wanted to show the world that just because you look different doesn't mean you are a terroist.

I can't see why Jewish people weren't mentioned in this show. They have been discriminated against and persecuted longer than any ethnic group. For thousands of years. They were the first slaves. When you think 'ghetto' you might automatically think of African Americans. Well the first ghettos were of the Jewish and excited before the 1500's all over Europe (they were called Quaters before 1516 when the first Jewish Ghetto was made in Venice Italy). So it's kind of odd that they were not included.

I am 16 and live in a suburb outside one of the most diverse cities in the United States; Sacramento. It seems here that a lot of politics is controlled by people with European descent that are involved in churches. I often find myself asking the same questions as Tyra. Where will americans draw the line on race and religion?

It seems ridiculous, to me anyway, that your religion should have anything to do with who we are as individuals, yet I feel there were areas that shoud have been covered in Tyra's show.

Its strange because I am also from European descent, my father German and my mother French and possibly Italian, but what is so strange to me is why we as americans choose not to vote in elections, or base our decisions just on a telivision ad for a politican. Its so important to know who your voting for especailly in a world hoping for anwsers to the age old question taught in almost every good piece of literature: who am I? Its about finding it within yourself to help people, its something my mom taught me about and that is selfless love.

I just wish there was some way for my community and my school to stop and realize that assimilation is actually the only way we will be able to fight the tough issues facing our nation, like terrorism, stem-cell research, substance abuse, healthcare, and most importantly education.

I stress that education is the most important because we live in a world addicted to our superficial items: cell phones, internet games, and our cars. But as a nation need to realize that each individual despite who he/she does has something to bring to our world.

Sometimes a real problem stands with teaching the youth of the nation to make decisions, not based on what he/she does and how he/she does it, but why and what aspect of the peson's life can help the world, maybe then can politics benefit our state, nation, and world!

I just finished watching your show regarding racism. I was impressed how you calmed everyone with your understanding and wit.

I could relate to many women on the show. I am a Mexican-American, but my skin colour is white. Like the "light-skinned" African American woman, I would always have to "prove" to other people --hispanic or not-- that I am what I said I am.

I would always get the "So you're Mexican and what else?", "Which half are you again?" and I'd even get the insulting "Did your mom fool around?"

I would always have to inform others that not all Mexicans have dark skin. I am 100% Mexican, but my family from both sides have either lighter skin colour or blue and/or green eyes and that some Mexicans have more European/Spanish in their blood.

Another problem I have is. . .that I look Asian. LOL People think that I'm an Asian everytime I get introduced. I've even been to a few Asian countries and the people of each country would come up and talk to me. They would think that I was rude because all I could do is stare blankly at them because I had absolutely no idea what they were saying.

Anyway, thank you for the show. I'm glad it has opened the eyes to many in your studio audience and those of us watching on tv.

**Hugs**

Miriam

Hey Tyra! I was watching your show and I was a bit upset because you left out the Native Americans. I am Native and we do hear alot of racial slurs when we are shopping, or doing whatever.You for got to put us out there and let a Native talk about how racism affects us in our daily lives.Natives were the FIRST people here in America and still we dont have a voice anywhere,I would have really liked to see a Native person on your show.

September 11, 2006

To Tyra,

I’m a very light skin Mexican women that is in the Nation of Islam and when you showed the Muslim women I didn’t see one that looked like me and that kind of bothered me. Because the Nation of Islam has been in North America for over 40 years now, we are a part of the Muslim community also. I made a choice to be a Muslim almost 9 years ago I love my religion and my culture. I would have loved to see some of my sisters that dress like me and have the same culture as me and my family on your show that aired to day. I did enjoy the show very much. Keep up the good work.

Martha Muhammad
Oakland CA.

In response to "Anonymous"'s comment, in a way Asian females are discrimated against in that most people do think that we are smart people. For me personally being an Asian American I am very upset at the fact that I feel as though because I am Asian that people automatically assume I am Chinese. I have had many experiences where people would come up to me and say "ni hao ma" which is equivalent to something like "How are you". Just because I am Asian does not automatically make me Chinese.

In response to Carolyn's comment on how her cousin was not accepted to a college because the "white quota" as she put it was filled I experienced that as well. I wanted to go to the best High School in my city which happens to have mostly Asian students but because I was Asian they put higher standards on acceptance into their school for Asians but from what I have heard stated other minority groups in that school were given more lenient standards and others not as qualified academically were allowed admittance into that school due to the fact they were part of the minority in that school.

Racism DOES exist for EVERY racial group. We just need to all learn to be more accepting and open to others. I really appreciated this episode and I think maybe followup episodes should follow.

I am watching your show right now and i litteraly have goosebumps because it makes me extremely mad. I am East Indian and i am completely affended by some of the comments that were made on the show. For example the african american girl with the red hair commented "we(african americans) have had it worse for over 200 hundred years and you(middle eastern) have only had it bad for a couple of years" She really does need to read her history book a little closely because EVERYONE who is not white was discriminated including middle easterns we just dont mention it because majority was african americans. All minorities were discriminated against so dont think that one type of minority has had it worse. I'm not being biased or anything but lately middle easterns do have it worse because people are very gullible and ignorant these days. They believe that a handful of people who committ a crime represent the rest of their "kind". People always joke around with me about taliban and other muslim stuff because i'm middle eastern not knowning that i'm not even muslim. People need to open there mind and if they have something to say, they should research before they open there mouth on history.

Hi everyone I am an pround African American female and my boyfriend is white and i am currently pregnant by him and everytime i talk to someone about my pregnancy they ask me where is the father and i say he's around and then when i tell them that he is white they are totally shocked and even have enough nerve to tell me that they thought my baby dad was a dead beat big gangster black guy who is in jail. So i think that black females especially of darker skin is discrimated the most and also that a white man can be with any woman if she has light skin but once they see them with a woman of darker skin they automatically people dont like that.

I was appaled as I watched the show today. as the audience laughed at the white girl, there was only about 90 seconds devoted to her story. I do not belive that one race has had it worse tha another all the time, I do agree that Muslims have it worse right now, but let us not forget the history of this country. From segrigation in the 60's, to japanese internment camps in the 40's to how the irish were treated as the lowest of lows coming through ellis island, to us taking the land from the native americans in the north, and from the mexicans in the south. I am a middle class white girl with a very diverse family and group of friends. I just do not want us to forget that NO ONE has had it "easy."

Ok, I am watching the show and I am truly upset at the comments the black audience woman made towards the middle eastern lady. This is not because i'm middle eastern (in fact i am white) but due to the fact the black woman is uneducated. Again not because she's black, what she and most people in the world do not understand is that us white people DID NOT start the slave trade, in fact it was the african tribes trading prisoners of war to other tribes as their slaves (BEFORE THE BRITISH, PORTUGESE, AND SPAINISH EVEN WERE IN AFRICA) it wasn't until the 16-17 century that the british, etc. started to sail around the cape of good hope in an effort to get the india that they encountered the african race. At that point in time the african chiefs started trading with the british, etc. instead of other tribes (i.e. they traded the prisoners of war) that we got involved in the slave trade. Then in between the 18-19 century is when we started forcing captives to take to the U.S. And frankly us whites were not the only people with slaves people in middle east, etc. had african slaves before we did. I know this because i'm a history major. So before a black person says that whites OWE them for enslaving them it was their ancestors who enslaved them first, so maybe THEY OWE THEIR OWN RACE SOMETHING. sorry it this offends people but uneducated people really aggrivate me.I do not owe anyone, and i aggree with the first comment and have experience the same thing with trying to get an academic scholarship for college, i had/have straight A's and they give it to a black student with B's because they need to meet their racial quota.

From the first steps that Columbus took on the new world to the creation of the USA and to the present day, over 50 million Native Americans died at the hands of whites. Whether it was from racial and religious cleansing or the greed for land and gold Native Americans have been prescuted and killed. To this day Native Americans are treated as second class citizens and street side attractions. The only advantage that they have recently gained is the casinos that torture other mens pockets.

My goodness, I'm so sorry to say that the Black women were the most angry, most prejudiced of those in the audience. They had negatives to say about everyone and with such rancor. And, so the Blacks have had it the worse, yes ... but think about this ... if they hadn't been brought here, what would their lives be like right now, today, in Africa? Not so good, I think. Yes, being here was forced, but again, what would those Black women's lives be like in Africa today? Would they want to return to Africa today and stay? Anger makes all people ugly and never allows them to move on. I am Latina, Graduated Suma Cum Laude from a 4-year college, a free-lance writer, video producer, professional business owner (not a maid service - which is honorable work and keeps people off of welfare, by the way), mother and grandmother. Yes, the Latina was right in saying that sterotypes are sometimes accurate ... even the Black ones ... but there are many, many other emerging positive sterotypes which you should expose ... intelligent Latinas and Latinos, intelligent, tolerant Blacks. But also true - not all Asians are smart, not all Latinas are maids, not all Blacks are gang-banger druggies and in jail ... but some are.

How about exposing the positives of each race and bringing in people of all races who are more tolerant of other races and talking about how they got to that tolerance, instead of those people who have not evolved into accepting others and only understanding, seeing their own pain?

I do not usually watch your show but, today it caught my interest. I moved from the city to a very rural area. It is well known for it's lack of color. but that is not why I moved here I moved here to remove my children from a drug culture. Racisms are rampart no matter what culture you are. It was refresshing to see one person address this issue and hopefully get people thinking and acting in a more positive and pro active role to change our perceived thoughts on race. I was always taught there is good and bad in everyone and only ourselves and time can change this. The woman of color should take a step forward and stop blaming and take a proactive role in change. This requires her to stop feeling sorry for herself and move forward with others in the community.
The women of Muslim faith have a great deal more to contend with in this present atmosphere. May we as a society have the wisdom to take the time and effort to learn of their faith and way of life so they can stand tall in the USA.

I believe those who spoke today were citizens of our country. They should be afforded all of the same courtisies of other races. We have had affirmitive action programs for the people of color which has definitely made thier lives fuller lets afford the same to this culture.

Today's show really upset me. I am an African American woman and it really saddens me to know that after all these years that black people still have it the worst. We have made so many strides, but I may still be looked at as a broke single mother with a boyfriend in jail. It was said that we had it so bad because of the fact that we were brought here in chains...shouldn't people be sympathetic to that? I knew all these stereotypes were out there, but I think I see it the most within my own people and Asians. I'm tired of black people telling me that I'm pretty for a dark skinned girl or saying that if I was light skinned I'd be beautiful. I find that it's always the uneducated old men saying that to me. I'm also tired of (a few) Asian people stopping their conversation when I walk by or crossing the street. I'm a college student in Washington, DC that shops at the Gap....How threatening do I really look??? I'm just sad that being black means you have to work twice as hard to get the same things. I don't think it will ever get much better.

I just want to comment on the racism against whites. When I first applied for financial aid in college with my Latino boyfriend, I received $175 total. He received a full ride. He made 2x what I made, and when I questioned the financial aid officer I was told it was because I was white. There is no United Caucasion College Fund for me. When I applied 15 years later, making below the poverty line for my state, I was also denied because I was white, and told as much.

And by the way Tyra... White is a color, so "People of color" is a term that should not be used just for non-whites, we are all people of color, just different shades. I am considered white by almost everyone because of my skin color, in reality I'm actually 1/2 Asian.

Today I came home from school to watch the Tyra show, and I found myself completely and utterly disgusted. The topic of today's show was that of racism and which ethnic group has it worse. I understand the Tyra show was intending to break down these prejudices, stereotypes, and racial barriers, but the biggest question and outrage that has come across my mind is the fact that there were ZERO American Indians on the show. I feel as though my group of people has not been represented whatsoever in the suffering and who has it worse debate. If you ask me, and the majority of americans, you will find an answer of Native Americans being the most discriminated against rather than African Americans. Indeed, every race has experienced suffering and unimaginable atrocities, but if you recount our history, the "American" history, you will find how the United States Government raped, murdered, stole, assaulted, enslaved, and numerous other acts of hatred have been implemented against the Native peoples. The United States government used to give Native women pills and procedures to make them infertile so that our population would not bloom and expand. This is merely one example and I still find myself completely furious and flabbergasted as to how could a show based upon prejudice and stereotypes not include the race that has experienced their entire culture virtually exterminated from this country? And to go even further, the Jewish community has experienced slavery and religous persicution for thousands of years. The two groups, which I believe, have experienced the most suffering, prejudice, and atrocities are once again left out of the racism debate. I truly believe that regardless of race, social background, or any other factor you wish to throw into the mix, the true test of life is overcoming hurdles that are in your way along your path in life. Indeed, some have higher hurdles, some have wider hurdles, some have fewer hurdles, but regardless of what has been placed in your path, each of us has a duty to overcome it and triumph. It does not matter if you come from a poor neighborhood, a rich neighborhood, a black neighborhood, a white neighborhood, or any other place in this world, but rather it is what you choose to do with your life no matter the hurdles you face that determines your value in life.

Tyra, i definitely enjoyed your show about racism, unfortunately the african american woman in you focus group (with the multicolored hair red and blond and brown)was not a good representation of our race.

I just watched your show and i am a 17 year old Muslim female, who wears a Hijab in High School. there is not a day that goes by that you are not called names or stared at! I was very glad you did a show to bring out discrimination and how many of us feel when we are stereotyped due to our apperance. you should get to know a person before judging them because you may say something that may hurt another. stereotypes against any kind of race or relgion is wrong! THANK YOU TYRA BANKS!!!

If anyone in this world thinks they have it worse then anyone else they need a wake up call. Everyone in this world is treated badly by everyone else. If you honestly looked at the people that were sterotyping the different girls you would notice that every single one of them were the people that are sterotyped every day because of they way they act and carry themselves. The people on this show today, along with the viewers were all wrong for thinking they have it worse off when they are the ones making it worse. Stop feeling sorry for yourselves and step up and before you say you are being discriminated against, try and STOP disciminating others

"Um...I'm watching it right now. I'm shocked to see an Asian female claiming racism. WOW!
Posted by: Anonymous | September 11, 2006 10:36 PM "

I'm sorry, what? "Anonymous", are you learning NOTHING from watching this episode? I don't understand why it "shocks" you that an Asian American woman would be sharing her experiences with racism as the women of other races were. All races, even whites as shown on today's episode, experience some type of discrimination. I am outraged because you seem to be saying that it's shocking that an Asian woman would "dare" to say she was discriminated against. I know of several Asian Americans whose families were terribly treated just because of their race. What's more, what the message of the show today was trying to do is say that we should recognize any types of racism in order to eliminate it, and that cannot happen if you reject the idea that ALL races are discriminated against at one time or another in their own ways. Just because you have not witnessed an Asian (or a person of any other race) being discriminated against, it doesn't mean there aren't others out there of that race who have been through such ordeals.

I'm a 15 year old latina. My mother is Puerto Rican and my father is Dominican.Tyra I LOVEDDDD this show today!!! I don't know if any one realized while watching it, but I did, we ALL face racism in many ways. America is a world of discrimination. I grew up in a neighborhood where the majority of the people are white, it is now that my area is becoming more diverse. My family made fun of me when i was younger because I spoke like a "white girl", many of my "white" friends made comments about my culture and made fun of me for not being a "white girl". I felt like I was between a rock and a hard place. Another thing I wanted to point out was, notice the people who have commented on this page and the show,they are all of different races, and all have experience almost the same level of racism, whether it was at home, work, or school. This brings me to the question..."So how different are we?" I think people should look into other's history before they go making any races judgements, because they will notice a pattern, and one of the biggest patterns is that we hurt our selves. I mean if any body has read the book "ROOTS", they will see that the "white" people didn't just contribute to the horrible acts towards the Africans, but that the Africans sold the Africans to the "white man". This didn't just happen to the Africans, this also happened to the Jews during the holocaust, many Jews gave eachother up to live. It all comes down to what humanity is really about "survival of the fittest", we all hurt eachother!!! Even our own people hurt us. So its not that different races have it worst or have it better, it comes down to the fact that racism is a part of life that if not all many people have to cope with as horrible as it is. The bottom line is we all have skin,eyes,hair,mouth,nose,arms,legs, and ears. How different are we? Last time i checked when i saw the Tyra show, all those people that participated had those things, it was just the size,shape and color that matter, and it shouldnt. It should be who you are that matters. Tyra your show is the best, I love it

Tyra, thank you for having this show. I am white, I am from Minnesota, and I have been descriminated against because of my name. My name is Ilayna Niora, and people ask, what is that? Aren't you white? Where are you from? I'm a Minnesotan! Its just a name, and it makes me so uncomfortable because i'm just me, I dont define myself because my name is "different", my parents just chose something beautiful and I don't feel that I should be treated the way I am because of my name.

I enjoyed watching the show, I hope it opened peoples eyes, and also brought up the fact that white people are also descriminated against. I don't think it matters who has it the worst, it just matters that it is out there and it isn't right and if you live in America..you are just American!

Um...I'm watching it right now. I'm shocked to see an Asian female claiming racism. WOW!

I would just like to expand on the discrimination against whites. It happens. I cannot change how an individual feels but what bothers me is how I, as a white, am excluded from many institutions (colleges, grants, businesses, jobs) because I am white. I sat for two interviews for a job I was overly qualified for. I did not get it because I was white. When I spoke with the gentleman that did the interviews he was honest. He said even though I was more qualified than the black candidate they were afraid of a lawsuit so they hired her. This is wrong. Several colleges did not accept my cousin because their 'white quota' was filled. In blacks race for equality they have managed to create the atmosphere of resentment that is present.

I am 16 years old and live in Petal, MS, I am white and portuguesse(latin). I am watching your show about which race has it the worst, and I think it depends where you are and live also, because where I live most of the people around me are racist on every race but their own. I have always hung out with black people, for example my church is mostly black. My mother is dating a black man right now and noone can accept that because of the color of his skin. I also usually date black guys, I am not racist and if I like a guy in another race I would date him, but where I went to school the people knew I dated black guys and didn't like me for that, even the black girl did not like me because i hung out with other races besides white people. I also hung out with alot of black people in school because the white people did not accept me dating black guys and called me all sorts of names because I took up for the balck people.Then I transferred to a prodominantly white school, there were about 4 to 6 black peopple in the whole school, so when they saw me in the mall with my black friends they would not even talk to me and one time at school a girl at my lunch table said that black people smell different than white people and taht hurt my feelings even know i'm not black and I took up for black people and told her that everyone smells different it doesn't depend on their race it depends on their hygiene once that happened I started to hate that school and this year I am not attending it, the people there are very wealthy and do not think they are racist because they talk to black people but then behing the persons back they talk about them, I have no problem with that because i've learned not to let it bother me, but I just wanted to tell you that I think every race is descriminated by another, I have just been brought up not to look at a person's skin or what they are wearing but it's the inside that counts.

As I sit here and watch your show I realize you show no sympathy towards one race. All I hear is how this one race has it better than the others, How this ONE race is not discriminated against.

The white race.

I am white. And I go to a school that is half black and half white and because of this I see so much racism. I came from a school where there were 3, maybe 4 black people, to a school where they are the majority. You cant walk down the halls without being pushed for your color, made fun of or ignored. Many times I have been ran into by a black person or looked at with anger. But what have I done for this hate against me? What did I do?

Im not saying that we dont have white people discriminate against black people, because we do. And it is wrong. But why is it that white people just get pushed aside when it comes to racism. Why is that? Is it because we dont speak out or is it because we are ignored.

Just last year 5 black guys jumped 2 boys for no reason. One White, One hispanic.

I am far from racist but I can say that being at the school that I am at and being treated the way I get treated my opinion about black people has changed.

Also when I saw the light colored and dark colored black people saying how they got treated differently,I understood. I see it everyday. When its black history month at our school, all of the black people get a sticker and they(Darker skinned kids) tear the lighter skinned peoples sticker in half because they are considered "HALF black".

I just wanted you to know that underneath it all white people hurt like any other race. Everyone hurts the same and I just dont think its right for you to ask "Which race has it worse" Because we all hurt the same. Everyone will be discriminated against ATLEAST once in there lifetime and it doesnt matter what race they are because they will hurt the same. We all hurt the same. And singling outone race and saying they hurt more or are discriminated against more, well in my opinion THATS racism.

But on the side noteI want to thank you for addressing the subject. And thank you for showing how wrong it is.

We are all HUMAN. And we ALL have feelings.

I saw todays show and it was very eye opening. The one thing I didn't like was how closed minded a lot of people are these days you know it is very sad. I think what a lot of people need to realize is that the Muslim and Middle Eastern people suffer just a smuch as any other race. I have seen and heard of the women being killed and beaten just because they want to get away from there husbands. We all suffer in some way what we need to do is be there instead of judging and learn form eachother. I am half white and half hispanic but I look white and that is ok because I except it. I ask please Ladies be there for eachother don't judge the men in this world are doing that enough. Not all Hispanics are maids and not all African Americans are ghetto and on Welfare, not all asians and Korean and Japanese and chinese are the same they are different cultures, and not all Muslim or Middle Eastern people are terrorist the are stuck in this hatred just as much as we are. I say to the women on the show you are all beautiful and intelligent and I wish all of ya'll the best in your life. As for everyone else stop judging and look around you God made all of us and we are all the same in one way or another so stop hurting eachother with jugment and help eachother with acceptance.

Hello Tyra, Today's show about racism was most excellent. I grew up in a lower middle class neighborhood in Roanoke, Virginia. Some of my best friends were black girls, I loved them then and I do now. I have mixed race family members, and we are all proud of each other. I am white with American Indian heritage,and Irish. Just an American. And that is what everyone needs to remember, is that we are Americans, race does not matter. I have friends from all over the world, I work and visit the DC Metro Area frequently, and there is a multitude of beautiful races there. And the ones I know are not all Americans, some are on work visas, and they are still my friends and I love them. Thank you so much for having such a beautiful show on such a sad anniversary day! I am a dedicated fan. You truly inspire women. Love Angie

Tyra, thank you for having this show! I highly appreciate the way you addressed this issue! It has made seeing the wide variety of racism so much better and allowed us to see everyone's side of the story.

Dear Tyra:

Thanks ever so much for your TV show on racism in the USA.

I am an African American who is older than your own mother and, in my personal opion, racism is far worse in the USA, today, than possibly before the many marches of Martin Luther King and his followers.

All of the people on your TV show are fine examples of the many sides of racism which, unfortunately, continue in today's world.

Although I would like to address each young person, I will, today, speak to Shayla. I have had her experiences all of my life, and particularly on my jobs. Any time there was a co-worker problem, it usually began with another young Black woman who, herself, did not believe that I was Black enough.

It has taken me quite a few years to learn three major things which have helped me to get over this type of racism:

1) If you believe in God you cannot be a racist. Therefore the person who did not accept me was not a person who truly believes in God and, therefore, that person could not be allowed to determine who I am;

2) Although I am very proud of being African American...[both of my parents were born in Texas less than 40 years following the American Civil War], I am also learning the history of the other bloodlines which are part of me and which make me wonderfully unique, ie. Cherokee Indian, German, Spanish from Spain, Armenian and Chinese. How's that for a melting pot?;

3)The Lynch Letter: this can be found on the internet. When read thoroughly, it becomes clear as to how and why some very insecure African Americans do not accept each other...we were taught NOT to trust or like each other, ie. house n... vs. field n...;

American slave owners were taught to use the differences between us and even to have whites sleep with the slave women so that there would be differences in complexion, hair texture, facial features, etc.

To read in detail how Mr. Lynch taught American slave owners to deliberately develop significant differances between our forefathers and then to use those differences against us is horrific.

It is way too sad that the Lynch Letter is still working, today, in the year 2006, but it does.

HOWEVER, my personal belief is that if each African American determines NOT to let the Lynch Letter work on us it will not get to us in terms of the personal hurt and pain of stereotypes and prejudices.

My Christian love is sent to you, Tyra, and to all of the young ladies you had on this program. I would love to communicate with each one of them.

Your TV Show is great! Keep it up!

A. Georgia

Hi Tyra,
I just wanted to say that I liked that you talked about racism. That is a big thing in my family but i don't see why it is. I don't see anything wrong with any race of people because I talk to everyone no matter what color or how they look. But i have had people who have dissed me and everything else because of what race I am. I just think to myself, "How can someone that I have been so nice to be so rude to me", I am a mix with Natvie American, Mexican, and Coccasion and I see a lot of people that don't like me because at first they think I am only coccasion and then when i tell them that i am mixed then they don't want anything to do with me. I wish that i was darker so people wouldn't think that i was just coccasion and they would know who i really am. A lot of people that really get dissed and hated on is people with mixed cultures. A lot of people won't accept me because I am mixed of cultures and i don't know why!! I wish people would look at me for who i am and not my race.

Hello,Im 16, middle class, white and I have been called racist.
the problem is that im not. every race has a problem with racism, and because im white i have to live with my four fathers past. And im sorry for what happend, i cant change that.but im sorry for not just for slavery but for taking native land. for the pusicution of Chines, japies, and asian in world war 2, and im sure we as white people are sorry for any other racist acts. i personaly am sorry for the past of my color.

hi tyra, congrats on todays topic racism; i feel this is one of your best shows,it had depth.i am 39 jamaican living in georgia,every time some one hera i am from jamaica,they think i smoke weed,is violent&should have locks

I thank you for your topic today. Yes, there were a lot of races and religions left out, but I don’t think your point was to show ALL stereotypes, races and religions, but to bring the issue out in the open. I feel that stereotypes do happen for a reason. If people within a race, would not glamorize and perpetuate the stereotype, then it would show others that the stereotype is not correct or acceptable. If people within a race would frown on those, within their “group”, that help to label them instead of blaming the people who only know that group from the media, it would be a good start to help alleviate the stereotypes and animosity. Everyone in some way is labeled and discriminated against in one way or another. If we get hung up on it and blame others or feel sorry for ourselves because of our “label” then we are no better than the person guilty of discrimination. Anyone who cries discrimination, yet discriminates against another group is, by far, the worst of the worst. Before we anger so quickly at the discrimination, we need to understand where the discrimination is coming from and perhaps take the time to understand ourselves and each other. Discrimination stems from fear and insecurity.

I am a white Canadian, who grew up in a large city, for the past 10 years I have been living in a small tourist town. A large part of our population here is Native American. The amount of racism and discrimination that I have to deal with on a regular basis is disgusting. The most shocking is the racism that is between people of the same race. Maybe there is simply just too much hatred in the world.

Hi Tyra

I'm a 46 year old black woman whose very happy and pleased to see you addressing the issue of racism in America! If there could be media regarding this subject regularly, such as your show portrayed today-- we could bring greater enlightenment, understanding, and unity to and for this great country we live in.

America is still hurting, bleeding and now needs to be healing from racism.

Thank you for producing and airing such a beautiful show. I had chills and am very proud to be among this nation of multi-cultural individuals whom I want to see melt together with respect for one another building a people of one.

Today's show was awesome. I have the utmost respect for someone who has the courage to speak on real issues in real times that affect real people. Although my experience in discrimination is small, I completely feel as though the Drs made an awesome point with their show-ending experiment. My hope is that we can begin today to rewrite history and keep it from repeating itself. We are all Gods children and our differences on the outside only speak to the amazing way that God transcends all. Remember, we were all fashioned in his likeness.

I love the fact that racism was brought up since it’s rarely talked about! I think that every race has it hard you can't say African American have it harder because of history. NO. Everyone and I mean everyone has it hard equally I think racism is bigger now than it was 50 years ago! I'm Hispanic not Mexican but Hispanic I consider myself global meaning I understand a lot of religions and races and I can differentiate many cultures because I’m not racist I like learning new cultures and I think everyone should have friends out of their own race!!! With that said I love every race because of their yummy distinctive foods...Mmmm…

omg what a powerful show i hope everyone leaves the show remembering the fact that we all do hold alot of things that are the same. if we all try harder peace won't be far at all. much love and happiness.xoxoxoxoxoxox

I found this show to be extremely interesting. I was born and grew up overseas. I've spent 18 of 22 years outside of this country and finally returned last year. I am half Filipino and half Caucasian. Living overseas in different countries in both Asia and Europe was a great experience, however, truthfully -- I've experienced more racism from Americans than from any other group both in and outside of the U.S. Our country does pride itself on diversity but diversity isn't always what citizens of this country can easily accept. Race is such an issue here and it's difficult to understand why -- especially, when I've experienced race be a non-issue in other countries -- but I do hope there comes a day when diversity is truly celebrated.

Dear Tyra
I only got the last 10 min. of your show today but when you had all the people to hold hands and when everyone raised thier hands in the air I cryed . it was such a good thing to see. i am A white Girl who come from a small town that only had white people living for most part and that town has lots of racism it is in Alabama, but when i become 16 and went to work in a larger town I become friends with people from other races and seen that every race has good people and bad people some even better than me . I am now married to a Man wonderful Man may I say From Egypt. I could not ask for a better Man or in-laws they are very good people but I do see the racism alot now after 9-11 and we have to remember this was not a race that did this this was just bad people they could have been white , black , blue or purple,
when I am out I thy to be nice to all the people of the world and get to know every one you will find you can make some wonderful friends who mean the world to you if you will just let the world in and not be closed up in your own little world. I am so thankful you did this show today. every step we can take and you as a roll model helps alot.
thanks Tyra you do great things. p.S People of the world no matter what your race is love EVery one and smale and say hello to some one you dont know, see what happens inside you where every one is the same if we was all the some on the outside it would be a boring world to live in . we would have to through the sport of people watching that some people enjoy because it would be boring . so be yourself and love your self and let others love you also. we need to unite not Fight.
after all God made us all in his image
Myra Myra
Be YOur DReam!

Hi, I watched this episode today. It was really interesting to see a diverse audience that reflects our diverse world, which is so beautiful but seemingly hated by some. I say hated because the world is faced with racism, terrorism, exploitation and other ills. It is a worldwide epidemic that needs to addressed and eliminated. None of us is more superior or inferior to each other. The exercise at the end of the show puts that point across simply. Yes we have varying beliefs as to how one should live life but there is no excuse for imposing that belief on others. I believe that this has helped to fuel racism by trying to create an ideology of a "civil" life.
I saw an audience of varying ethnic and religious backgrounds. For example, black women who were Muslims. Muslims who people assumed were of terrorist backgrounds. I think ignorance and fear consumes us sometimes to the point that we look for something to justify this ignorance and fear. For example, viewing someone of the Muslim community as a terrorist.
I am from the West Indies, Barbados to be exact. I see international news broadcasts, I read international news articles. I have access to the internet. Racism, discrimination, prejudice are not exempt to the West Indies. We face similar challenges with respect to belief, lifestyle, class, colour etc. this is why I say earlier that it is a worldwide epidemic. The difference that exists in the world, and not understanding and accepting this difference is what helps to create this cloud of ignorance and this chain reaction of racism, prejudice etc.
I wish you the best of luck in doing more shows and I hope you will one day do a topic on the West Indies thereby exposing the rich culture that exists for eveyone who watches your show to learn about

I am happy to see that the topic of racism is being discussed on today's show. However, there is one culture that is missing from the discussion. The American Indian people, my community, are once again left out of the conversation about racism. We encounter racism every day on many different levels from all of the cultures. Once again, our voices will go unheard about this issue.

i really liked your show on racism but there is one race that is always left out in every topic of racism
the NATIVE AMERICAN
they were here when the first settlers came here they fought along with the revelountist durning the revelountionary war the war of 1812
and then the way that the whiteman thanks them is take the land away from them from coast to coast!
what bout the trail of tears why are the native americans always left out of topics
put on reservations and then forgotten don't you think that all races should be included in this topic ! if so why leave the one race that was here before anyone else!

I feel that a lot of true statements were made on the show and a lot of stereotypes brought out into the light but the show did not encompass all of the races. I was shocked that nothing was mentioned about Jews when they are also at the center of the media. Yes, Jewish is a race, a religion and a culture and just because some Jews are lighter and some are darker does not make us black or white but I really think that this is a key element that was left out of the show.

I'm 16, and my mother is guyanan, and my dad is white. i've grown up Canada, in a white based neighbourhood. my only experance with racism was in grade six, when my teacher was suprised to find out that i had a white father, since i looked brown. But other than that it never really happend. It jars me when i hear stories about racism. It just teaches me to remember how lucky i am.