Pandas.

We all love pandas.

They are cute animals. But why does my family love pandas?

Three words. Black. White. Asian. Simple as that.

And we've got two of our own pandas living in my house. There is Kayla and there is Jayden. I've talked about Kayla already. So let's focus on Jayden. He would love that. He loves being the center of attention.

This isn't about his arrogance though. It's about his appearance.

Jayden is a handsome young man. He is white. Or he looks white. People see him and think he is white. Just like Kayla.

But he's not. Well, he is white. But he is also black and Asian. Yes he is also Blasian. There's that word again.

I know you love it like I do. What's not to love?

Well for some people, a lot.

Being blasian in a school full of white kids, can be hard. Of course, Jayden embraces it.

And it's not the whole school. There are like 7 black kids and a few Asian kids. So like 98 percent white.

Jayden has never been phased by this. And he shouldn't. What he should be phased by, is how he is treated.

He takes race lightly and doesn't see the hate as much as I may see it. He doesn't want people to feel sorry for who he is. He is proud of his Blasian heritage.

But some of his friends and fellow classmates don't give it the love it deserves. They see that he is different and attack.

Jayden has very slanty eyes.

I know what you are thinking. He's an Asian with slanty eyes. Ha ha. So funny. Like we haven't heard that before.

So he is constantly made fun of for his eyes.

People will tell him “Open your eyes Jay”. “Or can you see?” And it's not just the eye jokes. It's the names. He has been called Chopsticks, Kamikaze, Kim Jong Un, Fried Rice, etc.

I know..very original. Basic Racism Stereotypes.

We get it.

He's Asian.

It's not just Asian jokes. There are some Black jokes.

Not as many because he doesn't have dark skin.

But he hears them.

From “Oh steal any cars lately”, to "Eat any watermelon lately" to "Of course he likes fried chicken to “You're black, you should be able to dunk a basketball. Well no he shouldn't. He's 5’5 and doesn't have a Lebron James like vertical. These jokes are seriously getting old but they aren't going anywhere.

Jayden take these punches and constantly rolls with them. He doesn't see it as racism. He sees it as a joke. Well, guess what. It's racism. And it's as clear as day. I wish he would see this. But he doesn't.

So what do we do?

Do we teach him to hate them the way they use hate towards him?

No we teach him better. We teach him to love. We teach him to love himself.

Because at the end of the day he is still Jayden.

He is White. He is Black. He is Asian. He is Blasian.

Nah. He's a panda.

And he doesn't give a crap of what you think of him. Panda don't care.