Deal with racism in an immediate situation. 

DO: Stay calm and respond in a positive way.  Tell the person who is behaving in a racist way or saying racist things that he or she is free to think that.  But that he or she will be missing out on a lot of potential friends by generalizing a whole group.

DO: Tell the person that he or she should spend some time with a group of the people that he or she is bashing.  Perhaps exposure will help.  He or she will find that there are good people and bad people in every race.  People are born a certain ethnicity or race, but they are not bred and born to be good or bad.

DO NOT: Make an equal and opposite attack on the race of the person who is insulting your race or the racial background of someone that you know.  Acting in an aggressive way will only prove the point of the person who is insulting you or your friend.  It will increase the fear of what he or she does not understand and continue the prejudice and discrimination.

DO NOT: No matter what the circumstances are, do not get physical.  There is no need to make matters worse and to hurt the positive progress of different racial groups by being violent.  Violence will always perpetuate the problem.

Fight against racism everyday
There are many things that you can do to fight racism everyday.  The most effective thing you can do is disagree with someone when you think that he or she is discriminating against another person because of race.  You may think that you are only one person and that you are not doing much, but consider the real effects of your work.  It is true that by fighting against racism in a single situation you are simply making one or two lives easier; however, you are also setting an important example.  It only takes one person to stand up for something that he or she believes to inspire an entire crowd of people to take action for a cause.  It is similar to a situation wherein a professor asks if there are any questions and no one raises their hand.  Most people have a question, but they do not want to be judged by others by voicing it.  As soon as one person asks a question, the rest of the class feels more comfortable raising their hands.  This phenomenon is very common in everyday life.  If one person stands up and voices his or her opinions and concerns, then others will stand up with him or her.

Interracial Friendships and Dating
Let’s look at discrimination on a smaller scale.  Everyone knows that there are particular groups of friends in every school that will only associate with others in their groups.  The groups that make up your school, how they define themselves, how others look at them and how each group interacts with other groups are important factors in your ability to integrate these groups.  The first step is to make sure that everyone has equal access to school resources, space and extracurricular activities.  Like any situation it is best to start with as level a playing field as possible.  What do you think would happen if you tried to integrate these groups.  If you got the Athletes to hang out with the arts and drama kids, or the most popular kids to hang out with the kids labeled as “brains”?  Everyone would be able to find at least a few friends in a group other than his or her own, but would the group to which he or she belongs understand?  These little dilemmas are the same basic problems involved with racism.  What if you bring a friend or someone that you are dating who is of a different race than you to eat with your friends at lunch or to meet your family?  Will they accept the person as a person or will they have trouble seeing past the color of his or her skin?  Does it become more difficult to bring someone home if his or her cultural background is obvious because of clothing or appearance?  These are the questions that keep people from experimenting with friendships and dating between two races.  Your friends and family are very important to you and often your worst critic, but they should also love you and support your decisions.  No matter what questions, setbacks or obstacles you may have, remember that you have to do what works for you.  If you’ve got ‘jungle fever’ or even just a jungle ‘hot flash’, do not be afraid to tell the people you trust to be there for you.

Coping with racism after the experience
1. Recognize and accept your own feelings about the situation and talk to others about your fears.  Know that your feelings are a normal response to an abnormal situation.  Racism and ignorance are the problems, not you and your race.
2. Be willing to listen to family and friends who have been affected by racism in the past.  Ask how they dealt with it and what suggestions they have for you.  Talking about your experience and getting advice from outside sources may give you more creative ideas about how to cope.
3. Be patient with people.  Not everyone can be as understanding and tolerant as you want him or her to be.  Some people improve their ideas and beliefs with time.  Until then, just try to surround yourself with open-minded friends and family.

Trouble focusing, difficulty sleeping, nightmares or intense fatigue are common after a traumatic situation, such as dealing with racism.  Give yourself time to get over or adjust to the issue.  Do not, under any circumstances, pretend that you are fine if you do not truly feel fine.  As John Bridger and Charlie Croker say in The Italian Job: “You know what fine stands for: Freaked-out, Insecure, Neurotic, and Emotional.”  Recognize racism.  The intensity and hurtful effects of racism are different in every situation.  Sometimes, it is difficult tell the difference between something that is said intentionally to hurt others and something that is said in the ignorance of how upsetting it can be.  Just go with what you feel at the moment.  If what is said or done makes you really uncomfortable, than it is probably inappropriate in some way.  Even if you have to speak up in the defense of others it is best to do so.  Do not be afraid to have a reaction to something that may or may not be an incident of racism.  It can be something that is spoken, acted upon or it can just be based on behavior.  Whatever the manner, racism in any form should not be tolerated.  Saying nothing is just as bad as agreeing.