Hey everyone,
During this dark time, I want to share how we as a family discuss racism with our kids. I realize every family is unique and live their lives differently however the one thing that needs to be in unison is the discussion of racism with our children. People don’t one day just become racist. With the proper teaching and discussions at home, children will grow up knowing it is wrong and hopefully, just hopefully one day it will stop. So much of racism is brought on by what you are taught as a child or the lack there of. We have always lived in pretty urban areas and my kids go to schools where the lack of diversity has never been an issue. In fact, Ely went to a school for a bit where he was the minority. So for us, the question “mommy why does he have different colored skin” really was never asked as my kids have always had friends of various ethnicities. I know that is not the case for everyone, so I have included some resources at the bottom that I feel could be helpful if any of you are looking for ways start a dialogue at home.
From when they were tiny, we’ve told our boys people can have different beliefs, be a different color, look a different way, but at the end of the day God made us all, we are all human, and all created equally. We tell them ALL the time: “boys be kind to people no matter what”. “Unless someone is mean to you first, always, ALWAYS be kind and accepting”.
When they were toddlers I bought tons of Elmo dvd’s because I loved that they showed all different kinds of people – a black little girl, an asian boy, etc. on the show with Elmo to expose kids to diversity at a young age. If you are looking for resources to help navigate or start the conversation about race and racism with your children, here are some helpful resources:
Resources You Can Use to Talk about Race & Racism with Your Kids
Books:
Social Media:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CAvmPPspkyd/
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