'What matters is that parents are nice, not if they're black or white!' The moment a group of children are told Cheerios' mixed-race ad received a torrent of racial abuse
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The moment a group of children are told that a Cheerios commercial featuring an interracial couple angered thousands of Americans, confusion quickly gives way to shock, before exasperation sets in.
This was the instinctual reaction of students aged between seven and 13, after they were told the controversial TV ad, which now has about four million views, received a torrent of racist abuse.
'That's just messed up, there are a bunch of mixed raced families,' said 12-year-old Olivia in a new Kids React video by the Fine Brothers. 'If people really love each other, then they should get married.'
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First reaction: Confusion quickly gives way to shock after a group of children are told that a Cheerios commercial featuring an interracial couple angered thousands of Americans
Meanwhile nine-year-old Samirah, with a disbelieving expression, said: 'It's just the color of your skin, what matters is that they're nice people.'
The Cheerios short, which features a mixed-race girl asking her white mother if the cereal is good for the heart, before cutting to a shot of her black father awaking to find a pile of Cheerios on his chest, was deemed 'offensive' by many online commenters.
YouTube was then forced to shut down the commercial's comment board after it was inundated with numerous references to Nazis, 'troglodytes' and 'racial genocide'.
Some comments on the cereal's Facebook page also described the commercial as 'disgusting' and that it made some viewers 'want to vomit'.
In the Fine brother's video, Benny and Rafi Fine ask the children, who were previously unaware of the controversy, to watch the ad before giving their point of view on the public's reaction.
Heartbroken: 'That's just messed up, there are a bunch of mixed raced families,' said 12-year-old Olivia in a new Kids React video by the Fine Brothers
Disbelief: Meanwhile nine-year-old Samirah, with a disbelieving expression, said: 'It's just the color of your skin, what matters is that they're nice people'
![Reality bites: Nine-year-old Morgan sighed, saying: 'Unfortunately [racism] is still not over, from the past'](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vXoLOf7-2hc-tuhTktHyYfb--Bkm7Gg0B4fTM5to3WDK3RnlMUBe196Ed9K0D0esSZyXbmR4OgXCiqct8d4A6rQg1wCRio7pk1hKHOOhPB8u4p1qgkV7M3yS_Tpscr8DMZEaTfxBCs3fDR9DIa-UKHXXdBxFBhXzTOjYkn=s0-d)
Reality bites: Nine-year-old Morgan sighed, saying: 'Unfortunately [racism] is still not over, from the past'
'The opinion of children about these issues can give incredibly valuable insight into where our society really is and where we are headed as people,' explains the brothers in the video's opening.
Eleven-year-old Elle said she couldn't 'wrap her brain around the idea' that the ad would incite racial slurs and labeled the reactions 'stupid'.
'When was this video made, the 1950s?' she exclaims. 'I know that there is still some racism in other parts of the world, but I didn't think that it would still be here.'
Meanwhile eight-year-old Morgan put it simply: 'But some people just fall in love like that. . . people don't need to get mad about that. Just think about their heart, they could be really good people for all you know.'
Olivia, fighting back tears, added: 'People shouldn't judge each other on the color of their skin, or their religion, or anything that's different.
Fed up: Darius, 13, called the comments racist, and said of the commenters: 'You might have been taught that way, that's your parents fault, but you don't gotta do everything exactly the way they do'
Immediate response: In the Fine brother's video, Benny and Rafi Fine ask the children, who were previously unaware of the controversy, to watch the ad before giving their opinion on the public's reaction
Confusion and shock: This was the instinctual reaction of students aged between seven and 13, after they were told that the controversial TV ad received a torrent of racist abuse
'You should judge a person based on their character and personality. Where I live, it's no big deal, people just hang out with each other, no matter about religion and race.
'But in other parts of the country, it's more stuck in the old days and prejudiced, and that's messed up. I'm really sorry people have to deal with this, it's really hard.'
Dylan, 11, who says its annoying when people stereotype him as being able to 'ace a test' because of his Asian heritage, agreed.
'They all think that their race is better, even though its all the same. Underneath, you are literally the same people. You have organs, and a heart,' he said.
Darius, 13, said he is sick of being picked on as a minority. 'I have friends that will be racist just to be funny,' he explained. 'I don't find it funny. If you're being racist, you should just drop it.
'You might have been taught that way, that's your parents fault, but you don't gotta do everything exactly the way they do.'
Controversial commercial: The Cheerios short, which was deemed 'offensive' by viewers, features a mixed-race girl asking her white mother if the cereal is good for the heart
Multicultural: The comical TV ad then cuts to the girl's black father awaking from an afternoon nap on the sofa to find a pile of Cheerios on his chest
Hateful comments: YouTube was then forced to shut down the commercial's comment board after it was inundated with numerous references to Nazis, 'troglodytes' and 'racial genocide'
Despite the 2010 U.S. census reporting that nearly seven per cent of all married couple households, and 14per cent of unmarried co-habiting couples are mixed race, many commenters debated the reality of the Cheerios commercial.
Dylan asked why people 'would waste their time doing that?' Because, after all, they 'can just watch another awesome YouTube video,' he said
Darius reflected this sentiment, asking: 'So you're wasting your time going on the internet, going on the comments and typing some racial slur for a Cheerios commercial? That's dumb to me.'
Shannon, nine, called the commenters 'mean' while 13-year-old Jake said bluntly: 'People are just racist. I thought Martin Luther King spoke against this and fixed this already.'
But nine-year-old Morgan sighed, saying: 'Unfortunately [racism] is still not over, from the past.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2366897/Children-react-Cheerios-ad-controversy-biracial-couple.html#ixzz2ttA4D9Sv
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