Brad Knudson didn't know how to react when he saw an abusive Snapchat video directed at his adopted African-American daughter. So he filmed the video before it disappeared, and then created his own YouTube rant. (Be warned; NSFW because it contains racist and explicit language.)
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Then he tried to get the parents of the kids to own up. The depressing part is that when Knudson finally managed to make contact, he himself was then subjected to racist taunts from the teens' dad, who found nothing wrong with the video and admitted to using that kind of language at home all the time.
Memo to parents: racist jerks tend to raise racist jerks. Gah; where do you go from there?
“I have a beautiful African-American daughter who I love more than life itself and would do anything for,” said Knudson in the video, claiming he took action because he didn't want his daughter to suffer and end up committing suicide from bullying, which is a legitimate fear for many parents in today's climate.
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After receiving numerous hateful voicemails, Knudson outed the twins' father as Deron Puro. And to prove there is some poetic justice at work on social media, Puro has since been fired from his job.
It's demoralizing to see the cycle of racism being perpetuated from generation to generation. Since there was no hope of changing poisonous attitudes like Puro's, Knudson did the next best thing: he bolstered his daughter and made sure he knew just how much she was loved and valued. He's leading by example that his daughter doesn't have to take abuse sitting down.
Increasingly, frustrated at the lack of action from schools and authorities, parents are the ones stepping up when their kids are being abused. While social shaming isn't the answer to bullying, sometimes it's the only weapon we have access to when we enter the ring.
You tell me: Should parents confront their kids' bullies?
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