Student exposure to other cultures

The area that I work in is primarily Latino with a speckle of Caucasian students and maybe a student or two of Asian decent. A problem that quickly came into play with me was how I was to respond to my students when they said derogatory words regarding another race, culture, etc. I distinctively remember my student, Joel Lapena. He had long hair and was nicknamed Mowgli after the character from Jungle book.

I didnt know how best to respond to the students other than to say, "In my classroom, he will be called Joel." I explained to the students the ideas of generalizing, the idea of being racist, and why its wrong to partake in such things. Often times when they are presented with the concept that they shouldnt say such things they say, "Well my (insert family member here) says that"

I've had students learn about different cultures and give a short speech in my class about the different culture if they continue. Its hard to really come to terms with the fact that some of them grew up with those ideas presented daily. So calling a caucasian girl a "guerita"(spelling) seems to them normal. Ultimately, I try to teach them that these words are not proper or acceptable. Its important to me to be a source of exposure to other cultures and try not to say "different cultures" because it almost gives it a negative twist.