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“Books about skin colour at an early age are part of the problem. Kids make friends with other kids that they get along with. They don’t give a crap what colour skin their friends have. By pushing racial awareness on them, it actually makes them think about it. Can’t we just let them be young and free and innocent? ”
To THAT I answer …
The story mentioned is inspired by the experiences of myself and my other brown friends who are in diverse classrooms. Many of whom have come home to ask their mother WHY do I look different? OR why does my friend look different from us. And the parents have brushed aside the question with a laugh.
Kids see color. Everyone sees color.
We need to teach our kids EARLY that how they LOOK is NOT that which defines them. It’s not about teaching them about racism. It’s about instilling values that last them a life time so they can GROW into being people to stand by friends who may have different OPINIONS or LIKES than them.
My books (ones I have written and in the process) are bullying prevention and body positive on top of being diverse (since they from a brown person’s POV .
Racism is not a word you teach or NOT teach your children. It’s an attitude that you instill by choosing to NOT talk about the important topics. A child’s character is strongly built by the time they are 9/10. There is NEVER a perfect time to talk to them about the important things. You GROW into them as a family by talking to kids about little things like WHY skin colors are different. WHY someone chooses to wear a head scarf. HOW we can help our friends feel included in our games. HOW we can stand up to someone who pushes a friend around.
The “I don’t see color” is a false narrative. Every child sees color. MOST don’t let it affect their judgement of those around them, TILL they do. They imbibe it from the things we do NOT say and the thoughtless comments WE as adults pass on others appearances.
We want to ensure we keep nudging them in the RIGHT direction to keep building strong moral characters.
Books do NOT CAUSE Racism.. Quite the opposite actually. I don’t usually respond to or share negative comments but it’s important for those who MAY even think about this or are AVOIDING talking to their kids about important topics to “protect them”.