White parents: what are you teaching your white preschool age children about racism?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am teaching that if you do drugs, like Mr. Floyd, your reaction maybe significantly impaired and you can die one day of unexpected cause.

You mean that you'll die because someone kills you? If not, then go educate yourself.

Yes, and that is too. Someone can rob you, someone can rape you and someone can kill you when you are intoxicated or impaired and cannot adequately respond under the circumstances. When your brain impaired, you are not in position to evaluate the situation properly. When your brain is damaged by using drugs for years, then your chances are even worth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am teaching that if you do drugs, like Mr. Floyd, your reaction maybe significantly impaired and you can die one day of unexpected cause.

You mean that you'll die because someone kills you? If not, then go educate yourself.

Yes, and that is too. Someone can rob you, someone can rape you and someone can kill you when you are intoxicated or impaired and cannot adequately respond under the circumstances. When your brain impaired, you are not in position to evaluate the situation properly. When your brain is damaged by using drugs for years, then your chances are even worth.

Are you aware that someone can kill you, rape you, and rob you even when you are not remotely impaired? Are you also aware that being impaired does not mean that you deserve to be killed, raped, or robbed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am teaching that if you do drugs, like Mr. Floyd, your reaction maybe significantly impaired and you can die one day of unexpected cause.

You mean that you'll die because someone kills you? If not, then go educate yourself.

Yes, and that is too. Someone can rob you, someone can rape you and someone can kill you when you are intoxicated or impaired and cannot adequately respond under the circumstances. When your brain impaired, you are not in position to evaluate the situation properly. When your brain is damaged by using drugs for years, then your chances are even worth.

Are you aware that someone can kill you, rape you, and rob you even when you are not remotely impaired? Are you also aware that being impaired does not mean that you deserve to be killed, raped, or robbed?

You are so confused. Where did I say anyone deserve to be killed, raped or robbed? Yes, I am absolutely aware that any of us can die any day at any given moment or become a victim of crime. We are talking about numbers and probabilities. Great math and biology lesson for preschoolers, don't you agree?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am teaching that if you do drugs, like Mr. Floyd, your reaction maybe significantly impaired and you can die one day of unexpected cause.

You mean that you'll die because someone kills you? If not, then go educate yourself.

Yes, and that is too. Someone can rob you, someone can rape you and someone can kill you when you are intoxicated or impaired and cannot adequately respond under the circumstances. When your brain impaired, you are not in position to evaluate the situation properly. When your brain is damaged by using drugs for years, then your chances are even worth.

But the police didn’t kill George Floyd because he was impaired. They killed him because he is Black.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am teaching that if you do drugs, like Mr. Floyd, your reaction maybe significantly impaired and you can die one day of unexpected cause.

You mean that you'll die because someone kills you? If not, then go educate yourself.

Yes, and that is too. Someone can rob you, someone can rape you and someone can kill you when you are intoxicated or impaired and cannot adequately respond under the circumstances. When your brain impaired, you are not in position to evaluate the situation properly. When your brain is damaged by using drugs for years, then your chances are even worth.

But the police didn’t kill George Floyd because he was impaired. They killed him because he is Black.

And you know that how? Because CNN told you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am teaching that if you do drugs, like Mr. Floyd, your reaction maybe significantly impaired and you can die one day of unexpected cause.

You mean that you'll die because someone kills you? If not, then go educate yourself.

Yes, and that is too. Someone can rob you, someone can rape you and someone can kill you when you are intoxicated or impaired and cannot adequately respond under the circumstances. When your brain impaired, you are not in position to evaluate the situation properly. When your brain is damaged by using drugs for years, then your chances are even worth.

But the police didn’t kill George Floyd because he was impaired. They killed him because he is Black.

When police approaches anyone with a violent criminal record and who is impaired, of course they are approach the situation differently than a situation with a grandmother with a speeding ticket on her record. Do you know when you pulled over in the car, why police is not immediately with you? Because they check your record.

Floyd had been previously convicted of theft with a gun, drug offense and assault and robbery. Robbery! It is classified as a violent crime. It is indicative of how the person capable to act. Now CNN citing his family, calling him a "gentle giant".

I am not defending police action here. I think you should know the entire story before you will try to teach your kid a lesson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am teaching that if you do drugs, like Mr. Floyd, your reaction maybe significantly impaired and you can die one day of unexpected cause.

You mean that you'll die because someone kills you? If not, then go educate yourself.

Yes, and that is too. Someone can rob you, someone can rape you and someone can kill you when you are intoxicated or impaired and cannot adequately respond under the circumstances. When your brain impaired, you are not in position to evaluate the situation properly. When your brain is damaged by using drugs for years, then your chances are even worth.

But the police didn’t kill George Floyd because he was impaired. They killed him because he is Black.

Did Floyd put the gun to the pregnant woman stomach also because he was black? Or his skin color work only one way, when he is a victim, not when he is a perpetrator?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am teaching that if you do drugs, like Mr. Floyd, your reaction maybe significantly impaired and you can die one day of unexpected cause.

You mean that you'll die because someone kills you? If not, then go educate yourself.

Yes, and that is too. Someone can rob you, someone can rape you and someone can kill you when you are intoxicated or impaired and cannot adequately respond under the circumstances. When your brain impaired, you are not in position to evaluate the situation properly. When your brain is damaged by using drugs for years, then your chances are even worth.

But the police didn’t kill George Floyd because he was impaired. They killed him because he is Black.

People have had their faces severely bitten by people under the influence of the same drug that Floyd used. Teach you kid not to use drugs and stay away from people who are heavy on drugs, regardless of their skin color.

[Anonymous]

For the preschool age and younger I focus on being aware of and celebrating diversity. In our home the baby dolls, little people & duplo figures are multicultural. I'm still working on collecting more picture books reflecting diversity and welcome suggestions and criticisms for ones out there.

[Anonymous]

I was really struck by the discussion about what we teach children in the book White Fragility, especially when it comes to ideas like “racism is just about bad individuals“ or “we don’t see color.” I’ve started talking to my 4 year old very explicitly about black people specifically and trying to introduce ideas about systemic unfairness. I know that sounds a little ridiculous for a 4 year old but when I discussed a system where his younger sister doesn’t get timeouts for doing the same stuff he does he understood pretty quickly.

We live in a racist country. We are swimming in racist culture. It is the very air we breathe, so we (whites) don’t notice it. Our kids are learning about race the minute they’re born and if you want to be the one doing the teaching you can’t wait for them to bring it up. This takes work, work on yourself first and foremost so you can be a good teacher. It is not easy or just something you do once in January and then move on.

[Anonymous]

We showed our five year old the movie Zootopia. There were some parts in there that really resonated and helped open the window to a broader discussion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For the preschool age and younger I focus on being aware of and celebrating diversity. In our home the baby dolls, little people & duplo figures are multicultural. I'm still working on collecting more picture books reflecting diversity and welcome suggestions and criticisms for ones out there.

+1

No way am I telling my 3 and 4 year old children what is going on in the world. They are children. I will not burden them with this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the preschool age and younger I focus on being aware of and celebrating diversity. In our home the baby dolls, little people & duplo figures are multicultural. I'm still working on collecting more picture books reflecting diversity and welcome suggestions and criticisms for ones out there.

+1

No way am I telling my 3 and 4 year old children what is going on in the world. They are children. I will not burden them with this.

My 3 year old is still mixing up breakfast, lunch, and dinner (aka she’ll wake up from nap and say ‘mommy are we having breakfast now?’). No way she can understand systemic racism. She goes to an exceptionally diverse preschool and we have books that celebrate diversity.

As a Jew, I didn’t learn about anti-Semitism until I was 6 or 7. That’s when I learned that there are people in this country who think I’m going to hell and want to kill me. I don’t think it’s necessary to discuss with a 3 year old white supremacy, whether it’s in the form of anti-Semitim or anti-Blackness. If you celebrate diversity with them, you will create a foundation of acceptance. That’s the first step.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am teaching that if you do drugs, like Mr. Floyd, your reaction maybe significantly impaired and you can die one day of unexpected cause.

You mean that you'll die because someone kills you? If not, then go educate yourself.

Yes, and that is too. Someone can rob you, someone can rape you and someone can kill you when you are intoxicated or impaired and cannot adequately respond under the circumstances. When your brain impaired, you are not in position to evaluate the situation properly. When your brain is damaged by using drugs for years, then your chances are even worth.

You are very prudent in abstaining from the use of intoxicants since statements such as the above demonstrate an already tenuous grip on reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the preschool age and younger I focus on being aware of and celebrating diversity. In our home the baby dolls, little people & duplo figures are multicultural. I'm still working on collecting more picture books reflecting diversity and welcome suggestions and criticisms for ones out there.

+1

No way am I telling my 3 and 4 year old children what is going on in the world. They are children. I will not burden them with this.

My 3 year old is still mixing up breakfast, lunch, and dinner (aka she’ll wake up from nap and say ‘mommy are we having breakfast now?’). No way she can understand systemic racism. She goes to an exceptionally diverse preschool and we have books that celebrate diversity.

As a Jew, I didn’t learn about anti-Semitism until I was 6 or 7. That’s when I learned that there are people in this country who think I’m going to hell and want to kill me. I don’t think it’s necessary to discuss with a 3 year old white supremacy, whether it’s in the form of anti-Semitim or anti-Blackness. If you celebrate diversity with them, you will create a foundation of acceptance. That’s the first step.

There are developmentally appropriate ways to start talking about differences with little kids. Surely you've heard of the research that says kids recognize race even as infants? The problem is that when white parents don't talk to kids, they think race is taboo and fill in the blanks themselves. Start early, and the conversations don't have to be awkward.