Anonymous wrote:

You can draw comparisons to the history of African Americans in the US, and the treatment of Jews in Nazi Germany. One of the most critical things that we teach about the Holocaust is "never forget." It is important to talk about it, to know, to be aware. If we do not learn about what happened, and live our lives to make sure we do not make the same mistakes again, we are doomed to repeat the errors. And it starts young. When hatred is brewing, they indoctrinate young. The converse is true...if we teach children to be open-minded, they will be. Children do notice differences - and ignoring it gives more significance to those differences. In the same way we teach children not to make fun of or tease children with physical or cognitive disabilities and get to know them, and to be kind to elders, and to treat boys and girls the same way, we need to tell them that some people are blonde, and some people have brown hair, and some people have blue eyes, and some people have darker skin, and some people have lighter skin...and that there are people in this world who think the color of your skin or hair is of value, the truth is, we are all people and more than that. And it needs to start young - Dr. Seuss wrote the book about the star-bellied Sneetches for exactly this reason. Children need to learn young that war and bad things happen because people fail to look past the color of hair or skin or religious beliefs.

That doesn't mean it is appropriate to personalize it with the kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I don't follow the reasoning that because a child had been names in a separate instance than all black children should be singled out in the classroom possibly leading to more calling of names. I would like my child to grow and not have any bias anyway. Harping on the fact that a group may have been treated differently promotes them being treated differently. Racism in the past is not the result of people ignoring race or being color blind it's actually the opposite.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor has written,

"The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to speak openly and candidly on the subject of race, and to apply the Constitution with eyes open to the unfortunate effects of centuries of racial discrimination. As members of the judiciary tasked with intervening to carry out the guarantee of equal protection, we ought not sit back and wish away, rather than confront, the racial inequality that exists in our society. It is this view that works harm, by perpetuating the facile notion that what makes race matter is acknowledging the simple truth that race does matter."

It's true for members of the judiciary, and it's true for everybody else in society, too.

The opinion of one Justice.... I'm sure Not all the Justices would agree. What makes her an expert anyway. Teaching this way for half a century hasn't helped in integrating the majority of blacks into mainstream society.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I questioned why my child was learning about these things in preschool, a kind black mom told me that her child had already been called horrible names so my child could certainly stand to learn a little bit about history.

She was right, and I appreciate that she answered my tone deaf question.

In Kindergarten, my child asked me why white people, why white adults, yelled at black children and tried to stop them from going to school. Those were really hard conversations for me. I wasn't prepared for them. In first grade, my child made the leap and asked if white people had ever killed black people. And then she asked if they'd ever killed black children. We had some really, really hard conversations. But they were good conversations. She figured the killing out by herself, it was not something her teachers presented to the class. But it was a rational leap - if people would essentially riot to keep black children from attending a school, to what extremes would they go? The most extreme thing she could think of was killing. She learned about the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing that day.

My kid has the luxury of not thinking about race. Very rarely does she actively consider her race or the implications of what race has meant in history. Even the horrible aspects like slavery can remain abstract to her. She can let go of a bit of that privilege every now and again. She has yet to be damaged by being given factual information.

your ignorance is blinding me

I don't follow the reasoning that because a child had been names in a separate instance than all black children should be singled out in the classroom possibly leading to more calling of names. I would like my child to grow and not have any bias anyway. Harping on the fact that a group may have been treated differently promotes them being treated differently. Racism in the past is not the result of people ignoring race or being color blind it's actually the opposite.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are trying to make kids aware of race. And they are trying to teach kids to notice diversity. They want the kids to respect the diversity of the school and classroom and their neighborhoods.

Why should they be aware of race? Why can't they come to their own terms about traits they see in peers without it being forced on them. I don't think it's about diversity as the many cultural events at school highlights the customs of the student population. The way I see it, it appears that now DC is thinking of other kids differently than before when this would've never occurred to DC and not in a positive way.

DC did say the teacher specially said the part about not being able to play with others which again is not really true.

I agree with this. The schools focus so much on race that they are essentially teaching our kids to view people by the color of their skin. Before school, my kids did not point out people by race. Plus school only focus on AA and white and not the complexity of the human racial makeup. The other day my 5 year old pointed out a person and mater of factly said "he's AA"...the gentleman happened to be from India. He was taught that dark skin is AA but the school forgot to point out that other racial groups have dark skin too.

We are a multicultural family and focus on culture and what makes "people" a joy to be around. One can do this and teach the evolution of human physical characteristics with out pin pointing. The school has good intentions but they are teaching our kids to notice race when in fact most kids don't care what a person looks like.

You can draw comparisons to the history of African Americans in the US, and the treatment of Jews in Nazi Germany. One of the most critical things that we teach about the Holocaust is "never forget." It is important to talk about it, to know, to be aware. If we do not learn about what happened, and live our lives to make sure we do not make the same mistakes again, we are doomed to repeat the errors. And it starts young. When hatred is brewing, they indoctrinate young. The converse is true...if we teach children to be open-minded, they will be. Children do notice differences - and ignoring it gives more significance to those differences. In the same way we teach children not to make fun of or tease children with physical or cognitive disabilities and get to know them, and to be kind to elders, and to treat boys and girls the same way, we need to tell them that some people are blonde, and some people have brown hair, and some people have blue eyes, and some people have darker skin, and some people have lighter skin...and that there are people in this world who think the color of your skin or hair is of value, the truth is, we are all people and more than that. And it needs to start young - Dr. Seuss wrote the book about the star-bellied Sneetches for exactly this reason. Children need to learn young that war and bad things happen because people fail to look past the color of hair or skin or religious beliefs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are trying to make kids aware of race. And they are trying to teach kids to notice diversity. They want the kids to respect the diversity of the school and classroom and their neighborhoods.

Why should they be aware of race? Why can't they come to their own terms about traits they see in peers without it being forced on them. I don't think it's about diversity as the many cultural events at school highlights the customs of the student population. The way I see it, it appears that now DC is thinking of other kids differently than before when this would've never occurred to DC and not in a positive way.

DC did say the teacher specially said the part about not being able to play with others which again is not really true.

I agree with this. The schools focus so much on race that they are essentially teaching our kids to view people by the color of their skin. Before school, my kids did not point out people by race. Plus school only focus on AA and white and not the complexity of the human racial makeup. The other day my 5 year old pointed out a person and mater of factly said "he's AA"...the gentleman happened to be from India. He was taught that dark skin is AA but the school forgot to point out that other racial groups have dark skin too.

We are a multicultural family and focus on culture and what makes "people" a joy to be around. One can do this and teach the evolution of human physical characteristics with out pin pointing. The school has good intentions but they are teaching our kids to notice race when in fact most kids don't care what a person looks like.

Have you read Nurture Shock? Ignoring does not teach kids that race doesn't matter. They DO notice race and will make up their own (incorrect) explanations if you don't provide them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I don't follow the reasoning that because a child had been names in a separate instance than all black children should be singled out in the classroom possibly leading to more calling of names. I would like my child to grow and not have any bias anyway. Harping on the fact that a group may have been treated differently promotes them being treated differently. Racism in the past is not the result of people ignoring race or being color blind it's actually the opposite.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor has written,

"The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to speak openly and candidly on the subject of race, and to apply the Constitution with eyes open to the unfortunate effects of centuries of racial discrimination. As members of the judiciary tasked with intervening to carry out the guarantee of equal protection, we ought not sit back and wish away, rather than confront, the racial inequality that exists in our society. It is this view that works harm, by perpetuating the facile notion that what makes race matter is acknowledging the simple truth that race does matter."

It's true for members of the judiciary, and it's true for everybody else in society, too.

I don't follow the reasoning that because a child had been names in a separate instance than all black children should be singled out in the classroom possibly leading to more calling of names. I would like my child to grow and not have any bias anyway. Harping on the fact that a group may have been treated differently promotes them being treated differently. Racism in the past is not the result of people ignoring race or being color blind it's actually the opposite.

Anonymous wrote:

I don't follow the reasoning that because a child had been names in a separate instance than all black children should be singled out in the classroom possibly leading to more calling of names. I would like my child to grow and not have any bias anyway. Harping on the fact that a group may have been treated differently promotes them being treated differently. Racism in the past is not the result of people ignoring race or being color blind it's actually the opposite.

"The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to speak openly and candidly on the subject of race, and to apply the Constitution with eyes open to the unfortunate effects of centuries of racial discrimination. As members of the judiciary tasked with intervening to carry out the guarantee of equal protection, we ought not sit back and wish away, rather than confront, the racial inequality that exists in our society. It is this view that works harm, by perpetuating the facile notion that what makes race matter is acknowledging the simple truth that race does matter."

Anonymous wrote:When I questioned why my child was learning about these things in preschool, a kind black mom told me that her child had already been called horrible names so my child could certainly stand to learn a little bit about history.

She was right, and I appreciate that she answered my tone deaf question.

In Kindergarten, my child asked me why white people, why white adults, yelled at black children and tried to stop them from going to school. Those were really hard conversations for me. I wasn't prepared for them. In first grade, my child made the leap and asked if white people had ever killed black people. And then she asked if they'd ever killed black children. We had some really, really hard conversations. But they were good conversations. She figured the killing out by herself, it was not something her teachers presented to the class. But it was a rational leap - if people would essentially riot to keep black children from attending a school, to what extremes would they go? The most extreme thing she could think of was killing. She learned about the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing that day.

My kid has the luxury of not thinking about race. Very rarely does she actively consider her race or the implications of what race has meant in history. Even the horrible aspects like slavery can remain abstract to her. She can let go of a bit of that privilege every now and again. She has yet to be damaged by being given factual information.

Want to know something funny? The most clueless and ignorant people in this country are those who say they are "color blind".