If you're white, are you preparing your child for life as a minority?
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Anonymous
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I have younger children, and it is stunning how color-blind they are. At first, I had the idea that they could just blend in with a multicultural society and all would go along fine. Over time, I have come to realize that it is not a good idea to sleepwalk through this transition.
For example, I want for my children to learn Spanish. I think that they will be shut out of whole categories of jobs, especially those dealing with the public. I am also concerned about negative depictions of whites in the media. Maybe there was justification at one time to depict whites as racists in the media in order to end prejudice. With whites as a plurality and then a minority, this seems to serve mostly to promote hate against whites. White children are also given last preference over minorities for jobs. The latter be a serious problem in the federal government, for example. The President suggested that they shouldn't be hiring whites at all because Hispanics are over-represented. I don't think that our generation knows what to expect, and certainly not our children if they are younger (which is the group I'm concerned about). Some strategies that I've considered are: 1) Learn Spanish 2) Learn about other cultures (so as not to offend and to understand their perspective) 3) Consider becoming involved if civil rights are violated 4) Consider careers where preferences for those other than whites will be less significant 5) Consider what happens when a group becomes a minority, especially a groupt that has been successful. Jews were very successful in Germany before WWII but were resented for it. These are just a start. I would love to hear how others are handling this. |
Anonymous
| I meant to say that Hispanics are UNDER represented in the federal government. |
Anonymous
| Are you serious OP, or just trying to incite people? Rest assured your privileged white children will be just fine. Don't invent problems of "racism" against whites. |
Anonymous
| That's a clown question, bro. |
Anonymous
| I am white and preparing my children for life as a minority. Of course, my children are not the same race as me. |
Anonymous
LOL |
Anonymous
| OP is a racist tea partier republican, no doubt. Prove me wrong, OP. |
Anonymous
WTF are you talking about? You sound a little crazy. As a minority, I think you have nothing to worry about. While whites might become a numerical minority in this country, they are at least a generation away (probably more) from being a minority when it comes to political or economic power in this country. Your comments are eerily reminicent of southern whites during Jim Crow who were worried about the impending doom of the country if whites and blacks attended school together. |
Anonymous
| I am just preparing my kids for life in the world. Lots of global travel, exchange programs, language, etc. I fully expect that they may work outside the US at some point, probably in Asia, maybe in Latin America. At a minimum they will need to be globally aware. In my work I travel globally and work with people of all cultures, and having a strong understanding of world history and cultural dynamics, and not being too US centric, is critical. My high schooler will be spending the summer in Asia on an exchange program. |
Anonymous
| Wow, OP, you are TOTALLY over thinking this. The world doesn't change overnight - whites will not suddenly be a down-trodden group fighting for their rights! Your kids will be fine if you raise them to think for themselves and be courteous to everyone. So what if they don't get every job they apply for? It will most likely be because of their merits, not their skin color. The world is not here just for them. Seriously, you need to find something substantial to worry about in your life. |
Anonymous
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This is a ridiculous post and I was tempted to not even bother with a reply. I, for one, am glad DD is color blind, as you put it. Makes no difference to her that her friends are from different cultures, practice different religions, or have same-sex parents. I think that's great and will go a long way toward equality for all if this is how children are seeing the world these days. It's definitely different for her than it was for me. ALthough I've always been the inclusive kind, since I don't give a crap about something so superficial when it comes to picking my friends, I can't say that I didn't notice the differences growing up because they were constantly being point out to me.
I work in hiring for the federal government. While I can't speak to all agencies, or even for all hiring managers at my agency, I can tell you that we are very focused on hiring the right person for the job, not the one that helps boost our minority hiring numbers. At the end of the day we are responsible for carrying out our agency's mission and it's of no use to anyone if we don't hire qualified people to get that done. If this means our numbers are not as inclusive as some would like, then so be it. Walso go a long way toward helping minorities be competitive with their non-minority counterparts via educational grants, conferences, intern programs, etc. Maybe we're more proactive than most, but being a federal hiring manager and knowing how we operate, I take great affront at your all-too-casual assessment of fed hiring. |
Freeman
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| I think it is more important to spend time preparing kids to live in a world with people like the OP. Racial, cultural, and ethnic differences are far too fluid to "prepare" for in any meaningful sense. Ignorance, however, hasn't changed for quite some time now. |
Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
Well played. |
Anonymous
No, idiot, this is a troll. A real republican or a tea partier would never post something like this, especially not on a left leaning forum like dcum. OP is probably sitting at her laptop giggling at all the fuss. |