Teaching Kids About Race & Diversity

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UPDATE June 19, 2021: Scroll to the middle of the page for tips and resources to teach kids about race and diversity. In this blog I not only share parenting tips, but also give my personal testimony on the impact of racial injustice. I find it important to connect with you as a parent, American citizen, and as a human. I hope that you find this post relatable, enlightening, and educational.

It’s all too much… too much for George Floyd’s family, too much for Ahmaud Arbery’s family, too much for Breonna Taylor’s family, too much for Tamir Rice’s family… its all too much for Black America… its all too much for America as a whole. I’m tired, I’ve been tired. Black folks are tired… and finally as a country WE ARE TIRED together, for what feels like the first time in my generation….

I remember the church massacre in Charleston, SC at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in 2015. To refresh our memories, on the night of June 17, 2015, nine innocent church members were killed by a White male during a church bible study. On the news they were recommending that minorities stay home until the shooter was found… I lived 30 minutes from that church… I was terrified to leave my house and to make matters worse, my husband was deployed. I’d had plans that day to meet up with one of my White friends (Hey girlie, you know who you are.), and I called to tell her I couldn’t make it because the shooter was still out, and since he was targeting Blacks, I had to stay in my house. The hurt and trembling in both of our voices, expressed the realization that she and I both were aware that we lived in two separate American experiences.

I too had a weekly bible study that would take place the very next day. Our bible study leadership struggled with the choice of whether we should resume bible study as normal or if it should be cancelled. They chose to resume, but instead of our normal study, we met in the church for prayer only. We held hands and formed a circle and one by one we prayed, cried, and allowed ourselves to fully embrace the pain and the suffering of the families who’d lost their loved ones… to fully embrace the pain of the harsh reality that this could have easily been us.

The next week many from our study attended a march on the Ravenel Bridge in downtown Charleston, only a few blocks from the church. The march was a peaceful protest to stand against racism and there were Blacks, Whites, Hispanics, Asians, all races there. Although we were there due to a painful event, there was a peace in our ability to band together as humans. I was moved by the love that was shown towards one another. Strangers were hugging, singing together, and holding up signs of peace… we were unified in solidarity against racism. In my naivety I thought maybe this tragedy would be so devastating to the nation that we could empathize with one another and stop the violence, stop the disgusting racism…. I was wrong.

It’s the year 2020 and racism and racial inequality are still alive and strong.

Black Americans are more likely than Whites to be victims of police brutality, five times more likely to have police intervention that results in injury, and 2.8 times more likely to have police brutality that results in death. (Feel free to check out the references below if interested in reading further.) The current access to technology through our phones has allowed us to record heartbreaking evidence of mistreatment and injustice. If you never believed it before, now you can see it with your own two eyes: AMERICA HAS A RACE PROBLEM.

3 TIPS TO TEACH KIDS ABOUT RACE AND DIVERSITY:

So what can we do as mommas? How can we effectively impact the narrative that our children receive about race?

1. Introduce Them Early:

Kids don’t grow up knowing that there’s discrimination in the world, they are either taught it, or they learn it from experience. I remember the day that I was first treated differently because of my skin. A first grade classmate (we’ll call her Susie), asked me a question that still crushes me today, “If Jesus was white, then where do black people come from?”…. I stood there with tears in my eyes unsure of the answer myself. Not only did I not “know” Jesus was white (honey, no one knows what race he was and neither did little Susie), but I also had never been approached with the smug question of “where do your people come from”. As mommas we play a large role in introducing our children to race, and this should be done early. This can be done through simple daily interaction by reading books and watching television shows with diverse characters as well as buying toys with various skin tones.

2. Make Mom Friends with Various Races:

Ok, so how many of us moms have been in the playground and seen another mom and said, “Our kids play well together, we should totally have a playdate”… I sure have! Typically, we feel most comfortable with people who look like us, it’s human nature, we gravitate towards those who we feel we can relate to. I’d like to encourage us to break that mold, and intentionally seek mom friends from various racial and ethnic backgrounds. Not only does this help expose our children to difference, but it also helps us become exposed as well. Win, win!

3. Allow Conversations About Race & Diversity:

Firstly, unless you and/or your children are color blind, saying, “We don’t see color” is absolutely ridiculous. Yes, I get what you’re trying to say, but when we teach our children not to “see color” we are essentially teaching them that our differences are bad. This begins the start of racial discomfort and as we mature into adults we have no vocabulary to discuss race because it was always considered off limits in our childhood. Let’s stop speaking this to our children today. Instead let’s acknowledge that there are different races, ethnicities, and cultural backgrounds. We have these conversations in ways that are age appropriate to help develop a sense of curiosity about race; this allows them to grow in their appreciation and perspective of race.

THIS WEEK’S CHALLENGE:

Mommas we must incorporate a healthy relationship with race and diversity into children’s upbringing. We must add it into our parenting toolbox. This week I’d like to challenge us to begin or continue taking the steps towards exposing our children to resources that celebrate diversity. There are various books and movies that can be used to help us with this; I recommend researching resources that are age appropriate to your child. Here are 10 of our little guy’s favorites:

• The Snowy Day, By Ezra Jack Keats: Book & Movie (On Amazon Prime)
• One Love, By Cedelia Marley: Book
• The Sneetches, By Dr. Seuss: Book
• Little Legends, By Vashti Harrison: Book
• Jo Jo & Gran Gran: Series (Noggin)
• Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous: Series (Netflix)
• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse: Movie
• The Princess & The Frog: Movie
• Zootopia: Movie
• My Neighbor Totoro: Movie

APPLICABLE BIBLE VERSE:

Romans 12:2, Isaiah 41:10, Jeremiah 29:11, 2 Timothy 1:7

Whew! It has been an exhausting year so far, right mommas? Between COVID-19, the tragic killings of Blacks, and the racial tension, we have had some hard conversations with our little ones. These conversations are tough, but they are required. Mommas, we begin to write our children’s narratives about race and diversity and the world around them. We must teach them now: we can’t allow the world to write even one word…. You’ve got this momma! If you’re reading this, stop in the comment section to tell me any resources that you’ve found helpful to teach your kiddos about race and diversity. We’re learning together. Thanks for chatting with me and allowing me to share REAL LIFE, FROM ONE MOM TO ANOTHER.

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References

Alang, S., McAlpine, D., McCreedy, E., & Hardeman, R. (2017). Police brutality and black health: Setting the agenda for public health scholars. American Journal of Public Health, 107(5). doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2017.303691

DeGue, S., Fowler, K. A., & Calkins, C. (2016). Deaths due to use of lethal force by law enforcement: Findings from the national violent death reporting system, 17 U.S. states, 2009-2012. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 51(5 Suppl 3). doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2016.08.02