Yesterday I took my kids to a shop for Halo-halo dessert and while we were ordering a black lady came in. I went to the car and the kids stayed inside to wait. When she came out, I heard her telling her white friend about the racist people inside, pointing to my kids.

She was going off, really mad about how my kids backed away from her and stayed across the shop and she took it to mean they were being racist and said her money is just as good, and she is sick of being treated like a pariah because the color of her skin. I had my window down

and this car is right next to mine so I decided to ask her if she was talking about my kids and what they did to make her think they were racist because I was going to come down so hard on them. She was surprised I said something, calmed down a bit and explained she thought they

were afraid of her because they moved far away from her. I told her that we have immune compromised at home and my kids were probably moving to give this lady space to order since we are in the middle of a pandemic and all. We got to talking and she was saying how an Asian lady

treated her like crap just prior to the shaved ice place and she was feeling some type of way and assumed my kids were being racist and she apologized for being so nasty to begin with. I apologized for the fact that she had been treated so badly in life that she would feel that

way at all and asked if we could make it a teaching moment for my kids, so when they came out we all had a talk about assuming anyone is racist just by body language and behavior but also about paying attention to your surroundings, people around us (My kids)
She passionately

told my kids that we are all dying, and not just white people can be racist and she is tired of having to explain that to white people (like the Asian lady was to her prior to our interactions) and she didn't mean to put racism on my kids when they were just trying to be polite

And then we got to talking about Islam and Libya, Pakistan and India and the racism in those communities and the horrible racism in the UK. as opposed to the U.S. by non whites. In the end she thanked me for saying something so she didn't leave mad and we all learned something.

We talked for ages. I wasn't sure if I should say something but she was so upset and I know my kids are not racist (but surely could have done something accidentally to offend her) so I felt like I had to address it and I am so glad I did, especially for her peace of mind. :)