As a white woman, I live with a lot of privilege in the United States, but I am not blind to the disparities my fellow Americans of color endure daily, especially now, in the wake of the attempted ethnic-based “purging” happening in our country. If I am being honest, I am never surprised when I hear about the racist actions of others, but I am always appalled by it. I don’t truly understand how so many people live with the mindset that the color of their skin entitles them to different or more rights than others, but I am especially heartbroken when I hear about it happening amongst kids.
It isn’t hard, however, to pinpoint where the racist actions and commentary stem from. CNN has reported an uptick in racist bullying across schools in the United States since Donald Trump won the election for president in 2024. Students in more than 20 states reported receiving racist texts following the election.
Flash forward to January 2026, and we’re watching in real time what racist deportation initiatives are doing to our country, and the ripple effect is staggering. Recently, a little boy in Iowa was on the receiving end of some vile, racist commentary during a soccer tournament his team ended up winning.
Max Tet’s mother, Mtee Tet, shared a tearful video of her son on Facebook that went viral where he explained what a kid on the opposing team shouted at him between games, according to the Des Moines Register.
“He told me I’m an illegal immigrant, even though I was born in America,” Max says in the video with tears in his eyes. “He said Trump was gonna get me and send me back to where I used to live. I was born in America, I don’t live anywhere else.”
Watching the poor kid trying to process that level of unfiltered, real-time racism had me in tears and inspired so many people to speak up in the comments of the video.
“Max! There is some bad people you will have to meet in your life you can’t escape but you can get through it… don’t give up,” encouraged one follower.
“Ah Max! I’m so sorry! Absolutely not acceptable,” offered another person. “I hope the team, the coach, & the parents are held accountable! You are so loved by all of us buddy!”
Kids are not born racist, but they do perceive race as young as 3 months old, according to past studies. All that means is it is our job as parents to teach them that no one race is superior to another, to make them aware that inequities exist, and to empower them to stand up for themselves or their friends when facing racism. No one deserves to live in fear and turmoil in our country, least of all our children.
