Comments on: Wow! It’s Wednesday! How Responsible Are We For Our Kids’ Views On Race?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 06:13:00 +0000

Sadly, I’ve no advice as my own daughter is much younger. I plan to point out the beauty of people with different features as she grows up. For ex. “So in so has a large nose. I love people with large noses. It’s such a great feature to have.” or “So in so has awesome dreadlocks” or “So and so has an amazing crooked smile — those are the best!” But we’ll see if the modeling sticks…

By: Pierrotmir9

Pierrotmir9 — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 17:35:00 +0000

Wow, How exciting. This blog came to me right on time, thank you for have the courage to share so intimately. I am a Haitian/blk mother raising a bi-racial child on my own after a divorce. I’d planned on our unity and different cultural insights to be what gaged my well balance boy and that has not materialized. Raising a now eight years old to respect all colors and relate to multiplicity of his heritage in the world around us has turned me into an alarmist. The issue are many and the opportunity to creative the next waves of responsible citizenship is great. It’s the everyday stuff that is driving me crazy, like yesterday when my”high”yellow baby told a dark-skin child that she had a BIG nostril, when confronted he said that he had tried everything this girl was troublesome, that no one has been able to handle her abuse so he and three of his friends all white broke-down to teasing her and the issue of her nostril blurted out. I am disappointed to say the least, I’ve explained to him the power of words, how we are all beautiful;what the hell does this mean? how am I to address his esteem and ideals around the social bit? please comment I’d appreciate any input.

By: Nicole B

Nicole B — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:11:57 +0000

Incidentlly, my first best friend in the US was black (Kelly Brown, I wish I could find her, she rocked!). And to the article's point, my white parents also didn't discuss other race. The first black person I saw in my whole life was the passenger sitting next to me on the plane ride from Hungary to the US and when I asked my mom why he was black she didn't have an answer – he was really nice though, he played paper dolls with me for hours and tried to teach me a couple English words. I think that first experience shaped my view of other races more than what my parents told me (which was basically nothing)…I guess it really goes to show that actions are louder than words and people have the opportunity to teach and influence without necessarily trying.

By: Nicole B

Nicole B — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:11:31 +0000

I definitely think that racism is taught. With that said, I also think that children do not like to be different because it can be challenging with their peers. Not the same as race but when I moved to the United States from Hungary at age 6, I didn't want my mom to pick me up from KinderCare because she only spoke Hungarian and it embarrassed me to be different from the other kids. It really hurt her and I still feel bad about it to this day realizing that I basically shunned my culture at age 6.

By: Nicole B

Nicole B — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:11:00 +0000

By: Nicole B

Nicole B — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:11:00 +0000

By: The Next Family » How Responsible Are We For Our Kids’ Views On Race?- From Fierce and Nerdy Blog

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 05:02:34 +0000

[...] is a blog from Fierce and Nerdy Categories: Daily News Tags: CA Fierce and Nerdy blogs, Daily News for diverse families, Ernessa [...]

By: Brandy Black

Brandy Black — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 04:54:16 +0000

Beautifully written and I'm so glad you are hot on the topic this week. I'm cross posting on TNF.

By: Brandy Black

Brandy Black — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 04:54:00 +0000

Beautifully written and I'm so glad you are hot on the topic this week. I'm cross posting on TNF.

By: MMKV

MMKV — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 02:57:40 +0000

I do believe that parents have a profound effect on how their children perceive other races, ethnicities, cultures, etc. On one hand I guess you could say well that is not necessarily true because just because a parent is racist does not mean the child will be (e.g., look at the interviews of the son whose father opened fire in the Holocaust Museum). But at the same time, I lived in Southwestern Pennsylvania (not the most racially friendly place at times) for eight years and it was often an adventure. But I remember one time when I was walking through a mall window shopping and this young boy, maybe 12 or 13 was staring at me. At the time I was sporting a short natural hair cut dyed blond and he said to his friends, "wow that is unnatural, it's like a Jew eating pork." I was stunned! Now I acknowledge that this was an assumption, but I suspect that he learned that at home. I truly believe that racists are not born; they are made. So I would argue that it is really important to take an active role in shaping your child's racial perceptions. And I think it is unrealistic and to some degree irresponsible to not try and do so because you believe you should be color blind in a world that is far from it.