Show aimed at youths about hate faces the fact it’s out there

A teen-ager and his father are telling Gabrielle Carteris (who plays Andrea Zuckerman on “Beverly Hills, 90210”) that if God commanded it, they would kill her on the spot. Carteris, who has also just been called a “kike,” seemingly takes this all in stride. She’s proving a point--for the cameras.

Carteris is filming a segment of “Face the Hate,” a show that examines young peoples’ attitudes toward prejudice and intolerance in America. Carteris is the show’s host.

“I’m really interested in hateism,” she says “It isn’t just racism, it’s intolerance. It’s something I’ve always been sensitive too.” Carteris describes her own experiences with exclusion in high school; she was one of the few Jewish people in her neighborhood.

“I’m a twin and my mom worked full time, so we had people from all over the world watching us, Spanish or Haitians, whatever. I had no understanding of racial difference. My mom likes to tell this story: We were in the store once when I was four or five. There was a little Asian girl I befriended and there was an African-American woman there and I asked, ‘Is that your mommy?’ ”

Carteris says emphatically, “All the time I hear ‘it’s inherent’ and I say no . You put children in a room to play and they will. There is no separation. That only happens if you teach that being different is bad.”

Like her “90210” character, Carteris is an activist. She speaks out at schools, pointing out stereotypes and seeing how young people feel about their peers.

“Parents don’t take the time to explain why kids are racially different from each other,” she says. “If a little white child is looking at a person of color, the parents will say, ‘Don’t stare,’ instead of explaining that they have a different heritage.” Carteris has taken her background and her interest and put this into “Face the Hate,” which she also co-produced.

The show is divided into three magazine-like segments, which include the aforementioned interview with Ku Klux Klan and white supremacists, a look at the Museum of Tolerance in West Los Angeles and “Hope For the Future.”

“The last part of the show talks about solutions,” Carteris says. “What we can do to make a difference. It’s important to take a stand.”

“Face the Hate” airs Monday at 8-9 p.m. on KTTV. For ages 10 and up.

MORE FAMILY SHOWS

Big Girls Don’t Cry . . . They Get Even (Monday 5-7 p.m. Showtime) takes an entertaining and humorous look at the insanity--and confusion--of overly extended families from a kid’s point of view. The film has some especially good performances by Hillary Wolf as the “normal” family member observing it all and Adrienne Shelly as the pregnant teen-age girlfriend of her dad (Griffin Dunne). For ages 10 and up.

Kids of all ages find prehistoric beasts fascinating. The Discovery Channel presents Dinosaur Stomp (Wednesday 8-9 p.m. and 11 p.m.-midnight), which reminds us that Ty Rex and pals were once quite real, despite their current imaginative and unrealistic incarnations. For ages 8 and up.

She may be 56 years old, but she still looks as young as ever. The Making of Snow White (Thursday 6:40-7:10 p.m. Disney) looks at the milestone 1937 film. The special includes footage of the animators who worked on the classic, interviews with contemporary animators and material that was produced for, but not included in, the original film. For ages 5 and up.

For those who loved the sensibility of “Wayne’s World” or who just have a youthful sense of humor, Showtime will also air Encino Man (Saturday noon-1:30 p.m.) about two Valley dudes--Sean Astin and “Totally” Pauly Shore--who discover a frozen Cro-Magnon man (Brendan Fraser) who paves their road to popularity. For ages 11 and up.