An interracial family in public? Someone call the cops

So here's a story from the "just-keep-moving, nothing-racial-to-see-here" front ... 

A white Dad had to deal with the police at his door when he got home from Walmart. Some people were evidently concerned that his darker-than-him kids weren't his and that he was a kidnapper. Some folks like to say, "well, better than safe than sorry," but these actions accumulate in the minds of kids and some folks are more often than others forced to deal with them.

How many times do we subject kids and families to such "minor inconveniences" before they leave a lasting impression? The indignity of law enforcement officers asking a 4 year old if that is really his mom or dad is real. Public Safety folks have a tough job to be sure, but when suspicion is really about race, not behavior, umm, sorry folks, that is racism.... It's not mean-spirited to be sure, but what else do you call?

Oops, there I did it, I used that horrible, scary word. But the reality is that many, many of us lead with a racial lens. And many, if not most, straight out refuse to admit it. But whatever folks want to call it, we threaten to damage kids and family's with constant, (and quite frankly, annoying) fear-induced, racial behavior.

An interracial family in public ... now that's suspicious