I am not a parent or an educator. But the bullshit history that has been and is being taught cannot continue. I am starting here by educating myself.. but I honestly feel we must start informing younger generations. On what racism is, it's origins in the US, and role it plays in our country today. I don't know how to go about speaking with children about this, or ways of implementing community programs to assist with the sharing the whole story. Any resources or recommendations are very welcome. Thank you.
Hi Elizabeth - Thank you for sharing these thoughts. I also think about how to speak to children about race and racism. I'm a preschool teacher and I teach 3-5 year olds. Obviously I'm not writing lesson plans about red lining, environmental racism, or the history outlined in this set of videos for my students. I do, however, want to set the foundation for the conversation about race being a social construct. Everything I've learned since beginning my teaching job goes against the white societal norms I'm used to when it comes to talking about race. All of my reading and learning echoes this message: TALK to kids about racism, talk about it EARLY, talk about it OFTEN. Preschool isn't too early, in fact more and more research indicates that children are aware of race SO early in life (https://www.newsweek.com/even-babies-discriminate-nurtureshock-excerpt-79233). I try not to let my own fear of making a mistake or saying the wrong thing stop me from writing lesson about race and injustice. It just feels so much easier to teach about letters and numbers and the four seasons sometimes.
I know some white parents who feel that their child doesn't notice or think about race ("Race just isn't a big deal to her right now so I don't want to talk about it and make it into a big THING.") That's where my role as an educator feels even blurrier. What is my responsibility as a teacher and how does that crash into their right as a parent?
I agree with your beginning, "I'm starting here by educating myself." Me too! It seems like the best and only place to begin. I hope that if many many people in our society take your first step and then continue to learn and share and take actionable steps that we then stand a chance of creating real change in the name of racial justice in our country.
Beautifully said. Thank you, Emily. At one point I worked with preschoolers and I can completely imagine that age is very open to age appropriate content and discussions. Thank you for your feedback. I would be curious to hear from teachers of older students, and especially ones working within public school systems how they address teaching and talking about racism. I say "public schools" because from what I have seen the mix of administration and parents from within the community is the hardest part of being a teacher, in terms of what is or isn't "allowed". Thank you again, going to read your link now. <3