Racism

Racism is a huge topic in the world right now. People are constantly bickering about this and that, and quite frankly I see more words typed and name calling then I do people actually doing something about the issue. Talking about the issue only goes so far. Raising awareness only goes so far. I mean if people really don’t understand that there is racism going on they are purposefully putting on the blinders. As a white lady in the south I can tell you that white privilege is real. But, it’s not just here in the south, and it’s not just white privilege that’s the issue. Look around and you will see that there is racism on all fronts. This is a battle that will first be fought in the comforts of our own homes. What we teach our children will have the greatest impact on our future IMO. Of course I can go to rallies and write papers, I can post stuff on Facebook, and even write great blog posts about the subject, and I may at some point do some of those things, but I still firmly believe as a parent I can help from home first.

There’s the obvious things that I can do as a parent like, talk to the kids about how we shouldn’t view anyone in a negative light based on their skin color or ethnicity, or tell them about times in history when tragedies happened because of racism, and those things are good things to do. But I believe it goes deeper than that. When we purchase Barbie dolls or other dolls we can make sure that they aren’t all whatever ethnicity we are. In our case as a white family I have always had dolls of many colors and nationalities. We have friends of many colors and nationalities. At times I have sought out families who are different than ours. As a homeschooling family I have been intentional about studying different countries. Yes, I have taught my kids about things like, African slavery, Holocaust etc. But I have also taught about good times, times when people who are different have worked together and changed the word. I believe we should be intentional about the children’s books we read to our kids, and even the shows that we watch. Are they multi-cultural? When teaching about inventions are we teaching only one ethnicity invented everything? Or are we teaching about all sorts of people who invented things? These may seem like small things, but these are things that I feel will help the child understand that while yes, we all have differences those differences do not make one person better than the other person.

So, that’s my little thought from my little corner of the world.