A recent post on the Am I The A**hole (AITA) Subreddit saw a devoted brother asking if he was in the wrong for bringing up something he knew his grandparents didn’t want to hear. This devoted brother is 26 years old and has a big family.
#1. Child in Need of Help
When he was seven, his dad and mom adopted his cousin (on his mom’s side), as his mother was treating him incredibly poorly and not looking after him.
His cousin became his brother, but sadly, his dad became estranged from most of his family.
#2. Family Dynamics
He explains it like this: “My brother is white. Dad is black. Mom is white. And my sisters and I are dark skinned. But we are biracial, obviously.”
#3. Family Divided
His dad’s side of the family didn’t want him to take in a white child, and when he did, they slowly became estranged over time.
#4. An Unlikely Call
They hadn’t seen or heard from that side of the family in years until recently. An aunt contacted him and his sisters, explaining that their grandparents wanted to see them because they were old and ill.
#5. Their Brother Persuaded Them To Go
Their dad refused to see them, but his brother encouraged the rest of them to visit the extended family.
#6. Disrespectful From The Moment They Arrived
At that first visit, on arrival, he could tell that nobody in the family had changed their opinion about his brother.
When he called him “brother,” his extended family corrected him, calling his brother his “cousin.”
#7. He Sticks Up for His Brother
It frustrated this devoted brother, so he began to make a point of saying brother instead of his brother’s name.
#8. His Brother Is His Dad’s Son
He made sure everyone knew that his brother was the most like his dad out of all the kids.
He says, “the girls and I take after mom but my brother and dad, outside of skin color, are like personality twins and even how they carry themselves is uncanny.”
#9. His Extended Family Confronted Him
He knew this bothered his dad’s family, specifically the grandparents. After they’d visited a few times, the extended family confronted him for mentioning all this business in front of sick older people.
#10. His Family Means the World to Him
He told them they should be glad he returned at all because they’d already disrespected his family. They disagreed and said he was acting like a child, not a 26-year-old man.
#11. They’ve Held On to That Hatred for Years
His final cutting reply was that by hating a seven-year-old child who had needed a family, they were the ones acting like children. After that exchange, he and his sisters decided not to go back.
#12. Siblings Look After Each Other
His brother said he doesn’t want to be the reason that they can’t reconnect with their dad’s side of the family, but they assured his brother it’s about them, not him.
They told him, “we’re a family, and nobody gets to deny that or make us feel bad about it.”
#13. Time Is Running Out
However, now more contact has been made by the extended family. They think he has to apologize before it’s too late.
#14. Was It His Fault?
Their grandparents’ health has declined, and they blame him and his behavior for this decline!
He ends the post by asking, “AITA?”
#15. Redditors Have Their Say
With over 3000 upvotes, horntimeaccount42 comment was the top-rated. Their verdict was that this poster was NTA (not the a**hole), “Your dad’s side of the family all sound terrible. I think what you did was actually pretty darned restrained to be honest. All you did was refer to your brother as your brother.”
They continued, “I’m all for calling out hateful people and their crappy behavior and I think the way you went about it was the most polite you could have possibly been.”
#16. Worlds Biggest Hypocrites
The devoted brother replied to this comment, saying, “They’re just the worlds biggest hypocrites. Talking about how every kid deserves love and how no kids should be treated differently to others and then they go and do the very same thing.”
ABrandybuckandaTook’s comment had over 500 upvotes, making it the second-highest comment. They thought, “NTA. They want to be in your life, they respect your life. That includes your brother. It’s not easy to stand up against family, especially when they’re all telling you that you’re wrong, but you’ve done the right thing!”
#17. Being Old and Sick Doesn’t Allow You to be a Racist
SnooSprouts6712 agreed with the overall sentiment, saying, “NTA. Being old and sick doesn’t get you a free pass to be a controlling, racist AH.”
AllButACrazyCatLady added, “Amen to this. They were terrible people long before they got old and sick. Treating a blameless little kid like an outcast? Disgraceful.”
Redditors back his corner, but do you think he handled this situation appropriately?
Was He Wrong for Pretending Not to Recognize His Parents When They Tried to Reconnect?
The post Was He an A**hole for Sticking Up for His White Brother When Confronted With His Grandparent’s Racism? first appeared on Mama Say What?!