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tragicbooks · 7 years

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9 simple ways to talk to kids about race that can help make the world kinder.

Administrators at Fox Chapel Middle School in Spring Hill, Florida, recently fired a teacher who gave her sixth graders an assignment asking them to consider how "comfortable" they would be in the company of various people. Some of the 41 scenarios identified these "others" in terms of race, ethnicity, nationality, or religion.

For example:

"Your new roommate is a Palestinian and Muslim."

"A group of young black men are walking toward you on the street."

"The young man sitting next to you on the airplane is an Arab."

"Your new suite mates are Mexican."

"Your assigned lab partner is a fundamentalist Christian."

Many Fox Hill students and parents were upset. "They’re kids. Let kids be kids. Why are they asking kids these questions?" one mother to a seventh-grade student wondered. "I just don’t think it’s something that needs to be brought in school." Another parent said, "I just think that sometimes kids are just too young to start that at this age, and in school."

Such sentiments are familiar — and deeply misguided.

In the United States, a lot of us believe that children, especially white children, are racial innocents — completely naive, curiously fragile about the realities of race, or both.

Image via iStock.

The truth is that well before their teen years, the majority of children are well aware of prevailing biases, and most kids of all racial stripes have taken on a bunch of their own.

Researchers have been studying the development of racial and ethnic biases in children for a long time, and we know quite a bit. We know that within a few months of birth, babies prefer own-race faces, probably because most are surrounded by people who look like them. Sometime during the preschool years, however, this relatively innocent pull toward the familiar morphs into something else.

By age 5, black and Hispanic children show no preference toward their own group compared to whites. On the other hand, white kids remain strongly biased in favor of whiteness. By the start of kindergarten, "children begin to show many of the same implicit racial attitudes that adults in our culture hold. Children have already learned to associate some groups with higher status, or more positive value, than others."

So, in reference to the doubtlessly well-meaning mom quoted earlier, the crucial question isn’t "Why bring issues of racial, ethnic, religious, and other kinds of bias into our schools?" It’s "How do we constructively engage the harmful biases we know pervade our schools and just about everywhere else? And what can we do to shape our children’s racial attitudes before and as they emerge?"

In that regard, research and experience offer some promising guidance to parents, guardians, teachers, and all of us who care for or about children.

These guidelines were developed by members of the Embrace Race team.

1. Start early.

Let your child know that it’s perfectly OK to notice skin color and talk about race. Encourage them to ask questions, share observations and experiences, and be respectfully curious about race.

2. Realize you are a role model to your child.

What you say is important, but what you do — how diverse your circle of friends is, for example — will probably have an even bigger impact on your child. If they don't attend a diverse school, consider enrolling them in activities such as sports leagues that are diverse (if you’re able). Choose books, toys, and movies that include people of different races and ethnicities. Visit museums with exhibits about a range of cultures and religions.

3. Let your child see you face your own biases.

We’re less likely to pass on the biases we identify and work to overcome. Give your child an example of a bias — racial or otherwise — that you hold or have held. Share with your child things you do to confront and overcome that bias.

4. Know and love who you are.

Talk about the histories and experiences of the racial, ethnic, and cultural groups you and your family strongly identify with. Talk about their contributions and acknowledge the less flattering parts of those histories as well. Tell stories about the challenges your family — your child’s parents, aunts and uncles, grandparents, and great grandparents — have faced and overcome.

5. Develop racial cultural literacy by learning about and respecting others.

Study and talk about the histories and experiences of groups we call African-Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and whites, among others. Be sure your child understands that every racial and ethnic group includes people who believe different things and behave in different ways. There is more diversity within racial groups than across them.

6. Be honest with your child, in age-appropriate ways, about bigotry and oppression.

Children are amazing at noticing patterns, including racial patterns (who lives in their neighborhood versus their friends’ neighborhoods, for example). Help them make sense of those patterns, and recognize that bigotry and oppression are sometimes a big part of those explanations. Be sure your child knows that the struggle for racial fairness is still happening and that your family can take part in that struggle.

7. "Lift up the freedom fighters:" Tell stories of resistance and resilience.

Every big story of racial oppression is also a story about people fighting back and "speaking truth to power." Teach your child those parts of the story too. Include women, children, and young adults among the "freedom fighters" in the stories you tell.

8. Teach your children to be "upstanders" for racial justice.

Help your child understand what it means to be — and how to be — a change agent. Whenever possible, connect the conversations you're having to the change you and your child want to see and to ways to bring about that change.

9. Plan for a marathon, not a sprint.

Make race talks with your child routine. Race is a topic you should plan to revisit again and again in many different ways over time. It’s OK to say, "I’m not sure" or "Let’s come back to that later, OK?" But then be sure to come back to it.

This story first appeared on Embrace Race and is used here with permission.

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socialviralnews · 7 years

Text

9 simple ways to talk to kids about race that can help make the world kinder.

For example:

"Your new roommate is a Palestinian and Muslim."

"A group of young black men are walking toward you on the street."

"The young man sitting next to you on the airplane is an Arab."

"Your new suite mates are Mexican."

"Your assigned lab partner is a fundamentalist Christian."

Such sentiments are familiar — and deeply misguided.

In the United States, a lot of us believe that children, especially white children, are racial innocents — completely naive, curiously fragile about the realities of race, or both.

Image via iStock.

The truth is that well before their teen years, the majority of children are well aware of prevailing biases, and most kids of all racial stripes have taken on a bunch of their own.

In that regard, research and experience offer some promising guidance to parents, guardians, teachers, and all of us who care for or about children.

These guidelines were developed by members of the Embrace Race team.

1. Start early.

Let your child know that it’s perfectly OK to notice skin color and talk about race. Encourage them to ask questions, share observations and experiences, and be respectfully curious about race.

2. Realize you are a role model to your child.

3. Let your child see you face your own biases.

4. Know and love who you are.

5. Develop racial cultural literacy by learning about and respecting others.

6. Be honest with your child, in age-appropriate ways, about bigotry and oppression.

7. "Lift up the freedom fighters:" Tell stories of resistance and resilience.

8. Teach your children to be "upstanders" for racial justice.

9. Plan for a marathon, not a sprint.

This story first appeared on Embrace Race and is used here with permission.

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jessesteele · 7 years

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Open Letter to Shepard Smith

Shep,

I write this as a friendly critique, honest, and hoping to fuel progress. This isn’t run-o-the-mill disrespect from a dissident. Your hunger for the story is as enticing as your delivery of it. Even when I disagree with your conclusions, I’d rather watch you than a yawn-time anchor.

To the sword, I think you could have done better at times. Among the many more you probably list for yourself, two particular examples stand out for me.

1. Kimberly Davis, County Clerk, Rowan County, Kentucky

The real story was not about Kimberly or about homosexuality, but what happens shortly after someone has a “come to Jesus moment”. The word on the street is that she recently had such a moment. It is very difficult to confirm without either a regular blog form Kimberly herself or without a sit-down with both Kimberly and her close Christian associates. But, let’s run with this version for the sake of analysis.

When someone first becomes a Christian—or first becomes serious as a Christian—they go through a kind of “adolescent conscience” stage. They feel zeal. They get imbalanced about which rights and wrongs to zealous about. They get militant and seek to use any and all levers at their disposal to impose their immediately-focused morals on others. They use their positions of power, often out of place and even in ways Jesus would not support, even if the moral cause itself is worthy. And, for Kimberly, morals about sexuality were probably high on her mind.

She wasn’t a saint. She knew that. She knew that about everyone. She just wanted to do what she thought would help other people live with fewer of the regrets she had. She was probably following the advice of the Christians right around her. They were probably giving her ideas about integrity and honesty as an individual rather than an elected official—since most conscientious Christians rarely find themselves in higher positions of power where thy must govern people who disagree with them. She saw her position through the eyes of an individual rather than a county clerk giving justice to dissidents.

A simple, “Jesus loves, so do I. I’m approving your license, even though I disapprove of your morals. Here you go,” might have done a lot more to gain sympathy for her cause and done a lot less to divide the nation.

I know her situation because I was once such a Christian. Her story makes sense to me much how your own history told you that New Orleans would flood before it was “reportable news”. I can’t confirm her story, but I would know what questions to ask—what questions would need to be asked to justify a fully investigated story about the Rowan County Clerk.

Perhaps you didn’t know. The truth about the real Jesus, and the truth about adolescent consciences of most Christians, are the two best-kept secrets of Sunday morning attendees—especially to the attendees themselves.

I’d also add that Constitutional questions about jurisdiction would also have been interesting. Were a County Clerk taking bribe money or using her power to cover-up murder, a federal judge’s detention might have been unquestioned. But, exploiting her power in moral decisions might be a debated line. The judge might have been just as out of line as she was. I frankly don’t know. I would have been very interested to see that debated and explored by Shep and no one else.

Because of Kimberly and the federal judge working in concert, the issue was highly politicized. The national rift grew further. And, no progress was made for any political cause. Both sides had their heroes. I didn’t see either side calling their hero to behave in good form.

In painful honesty, IMHO, I think you let your personal feelings drive you to print boilerplate. Whether your opinion is right or wrong, you didn’t tell us why. You didn’t get that far. Coming from you, it was the exception and not the rule, rare-form Shep. And yet, it proves you’re human. I do the same thing, feelings to boilerplate. You keep me on my toes with that, thankfully. It’s why I like to hear you disagree with me on TV. I’m just returning the favor.

2. Trump turning points

I predicted Trump would win back in February, on Instagram with a map. It was close, but not perfect. The States where I was wrong proves that I was thinking, except with Nevada and New Mexico which I still smack myself for. (But, I was so convinced Michigan would go blue and yet so sure from my gut and the rolling hills that Trump would win, I had to make my math work.)

Christ Wallace, by contrast, was taken by surprise on election night.

All I want to respectfully say is this: Chris is a politics guy and he got it all wrong. You were never a politics guy; you’re a news guy. You have a well-trained gut instinct on many issues, but politics aren’t among them. When you do your reports, call Chris and the gang, but also call a Coulter or a Limbaugh or anyone who has proven to be right about predictions with Trump.

It’s not about liking or hating Trump, it’s not about agreeing with Ann or Rush; it’s about good stories including the opinions of people who have proven to be right about the topic—not exclusively those people, but also those people. Next time Trump says something crazy—arguably every day—get Rush or Ann on the phone, at least for 2 minutes. You’ll have lots of fun with that.

That’s that worst I have to say about you for now. Beyond that, I’d rather hear you report what time it is than most other “snories” and bore sessions, whether you take issue with the clock’s political views, whether you agree with them, or whether you’re just reporting the time because, sometimes, the time of day is the most interesting thing to report.

Yours fairly, Jesse

Open Letter to Shepard Smith from Jesse Steele

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