Reply to How to talk race and diversity with a preschooler?

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Reply to "How to talk race and diversity with a preschooler?"

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[quote=Anonymous]OP, do you live in DC?

I took my (white) son to the Woolworth's lunch counter, and we talked about how people had been mean to people with black and brown skin, and had not let them sit there, and in other places. And we talked about how there were people who didn't think that was okay, and how they were very brave and stood up for their rights. So not just a message about "everyone is the same inside, all people are equal" -- which is important, but *also* a specific message about how people are not always treated equally, and that it's specifically black and brown people who've had bad treatment.

And we've had other opportunities to have that conversation -- e.g. his school did a bunch of activities for  Black history month, which allowed us to have conversations about *why* there is Black history month.

To the PP who made the analogy about hitting with a stick (and also, I'm thinking maybe you are the same person who was concerned that white parents weren't being emphatic? serious? enough about this) (aarrgh, not sure if I'm talking to one person or more here, anyway, here goes); I think what you said about this being an emphatic and serious discussion is definitely how I'd handle it.

But I think I wouldn't discipline my child in the same way I would if he hit someone, and here's my thinking. My kid knows it's not okay to hit someone, and pretty much our who society is on board with that. If grown-ups do it, they go to prison. It's reinforced really well, everywhere.

But I think it's maybe easier for kids to make mistakes about racism, or to not know that what they are doing is wrong -- because we're really *not* clear, as a society, that it's not okay to be racist. People get sent to jail for hurting people, oh, except if those people are black men. There's socially condoned racism all around us. So when my kid makes that kind of mistake, I see my job as teaching more than disciplining, if that makes sense? I hate to punish a kid *when the kid doesn't understand they are doing something wrong* -- but it doesn't mean I don't think it warrants a serious and emphatic (and immediate) conversation.  
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