It's true. I experience it every day. Not on the the receiving end, but as an innocent bystander when we walk to the park or the ludothèque (a weird playhouse for urban children filled with games, dirty costumes, children, and other depressed au pairs.) Need proof? Here are my favorite examples:
Two Jewish men walked past us. "Look! They're Jewish! They're wearing little hats on their heads," M1 (Monster #1) yelled. Yes, thank you, now the whole neighborhood is aware as well.
M2: "See those people?" Points out two black women walking past us on our way home from school. "They're not French because they're black."
We're watching a British show featuring wild animals. Footage of a man wrestling an alligator is shown. The man is black. Little girl points at TV and says, "See, he's African. That's what they do. Wrestle gators."
A group of people with Down's Syndrome walked past us: "See them? They're sick in the head," M1 pointed out helpfully. (Okay, this isn't racist, but obviously the children are not being taught tolerance and discretion. These comments are all made very loudly and within full earshot of the Jewish/black/mentally disabled people.)
Obviously, I'm just as bad, because I'm now going to make blanket statements insulting all French children as a result of my interaction with two slightly horrid ones on an everyday basis.
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