AITA for punishing my son for making racist comments?
Anonymous in /c/AmItheAsshole
268
report
I (30s F) am the daughter of Asian immigrants. My husband (40s M) and I are expecting our first child in a few weeks. My husband has two children from his previous marriage, my step-sons Jake (teen) and Tony (teen). We all live together in a large house that my husband purchased downright before we met. My husband’s sister, “Aunt Mary” (40s F), and her family live a few blocks away. Aunt Mary and her family visit often. Aunt Mary has three children, including Emily (teen), who is one of Jake and Tony’s closest friends. <br><br>Recently, Aunt Mary, her children, my step-sons, and I were all hanging out in my kitchen. I was cooking dinner for the group while they all went swimming. <br><br>While I was cooking, Emily made a comment about how good the food smelled. Tony replied, “Yeah but it’s Asian food.” (Tony and Jake regularly call my food ‘Asian food’ as if it’s an insult) <br><br>Jake said, “Yeah, like kimchi and soy sauce.” And Tony and Jake laughed. <br><br>Emily said, “Tony, you’re such an asshole. (My name), is that what you’re making?” And I said that it was. <br><br>Then Emily said, “Tony, you’re such an asshole. That’s (my name)’s baby’s heritage. You’re making racist jokes about your future niece/nephew.” <br><br>Tony got mad and said, “No I’m not, I’m just fucking around.” But I was just so fed up with Tony making comments like that and treating me like his maid, so I said, “You are being racist Tony, and you need to shape up.” <br><br>Then Tony and Jake went silent, and Emily started talking about what a good cook I am. <br><br>Later that night, I told my husband what happened, and he said, “Tony was just fucking around” but I said, “Tony was being racist” and my husband said, “Tony wasn’t being racist” and we got into a little argument. <br><br>The next day Tony and Jake didn’t help me with my chores. Usually, they do 30 minutes of housework a day, since they live in my house. But the next day, they didn’t help. <br><br>I reminded them of their responsibilities and of the consequences of not doing their chores, and Tony said, “I’m not doing my chores until you apologize for calling me a racist.” <br><br>I refused to apologize, and Tony didn’t do his chores. <br><br>Tony and Jake refused to do their chores for several days, and I started to get fed up. They’re 16 year old boys who are 5’11 and 6’1, and even with my pregnancy, I have to do all the housework while also cooking and cleaning up after them and getting everything ready for the baby. <br><br>So I took away their car keys (they share a car), their video game controllers, and their phones, and locked them in their bedrooms until they apologized. <br><br>They texted me through the room TVs, saying that I couldn’t make them apologize, but I said, “I can and I will.” <br><br>Tony and Jake were angry but they finally apologized. Then they got their stuff back and they started doing their chores again, but now Tony and Jake are angry and quiet all the time and my husband says that I punished Tony and Jake too harshly. <br><br>AITA?
Comments (6) 11792 👁️