Friday, February 1, 2013

MLK Day and Black History Month

  • Talking to kids about racism is not fun, but it is necessary.
  •  We may think of our kids as Ethiopian American, but to most people they are simply African American. The history of Black America may not be their personal history, but they need to know it.
  • I am grateful that since the boys joined our family we have not experienced any overt instances of racism. 
  • We started reading simple books about the Civil Rights movement at around 3 months in the U.S., but they freaked D out too much, and we put them on hold. We started again leading up to MLK Day. A was able to read a simple biography of Martin Luther King almost all by himself. I chose a book that did not say how Dr. King died - our boys aren't ready for that level of hatred yet. I also chose it for the sentence, "Some white people did not want blacks to have the same rights as whites." An actual active voice sentence that names the architects of segregation: "some white people." Most children's books couch this truth in passive voice, so that segregation laws just appear from the clear blue sky.
  • I knew I had to tell them about slavery. They're going to learn about it in school, and I would rather it came from me. A hard thing to do though, to say, "Guess what kids, the world is THIS awful." Turning to a book again, I used "In the Time of the Drums," by Kim Siegleson. It provides limited information, protecting them for now from the hugeness of the horror, but it gives a glimpse. The main characters are a young slave and his grandmother, and it's about resistance and being "strong-strong." I recommend this book.
  • For MLK Day we went to the African American Museum in Philadelphia. The main exhibit involved audio and it was so crowded we couldn't hear anything, but it felt good to be part of a large crowd of black museum-goers.
  • I had an interesting conversation with the children's librarian at our local library. I confessed my reluctance to burst my kids' happy bubble by telling them about racism. She said she worried about making her child feeling like a victim (they are black). Her advice was to teach our children about racism against African Americans but also about other groups facing injustice - women, Latinos, Native Americans, people with disabilities, gays. So our kids won't think the world sucks if you're black; they'll think the world just sucks. Hmmm. I've been keeping her advice in mind as I select books.
  •  For Black History Month, I've gotten books about black inventors, scientists, explorers, athletes and musicians. I don't want the kids to think that being African American is only about overcoming racism.
  •  We also read books about bulldogs baking cookies and chickens riding tractors. It's not all heavy.

7 comments:

  1. You are making me feel guilty for not addressing this. We talked a little bit about MLK, but it all seems so unbelievable to A that I didn't push it. I will check out your book recommendation. I know I have to do this, it's just the constant "why?" questions are wearing me already, and I'm sure this will add to the list of things that don't make any sense to him. Ugh...

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    1. Yeah, I would say this tops the list of things that don't make sense. Maybe that's a good enough answer for now.

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  2. Good job, mama, in starting these discussions. While I'm not yet the parent of a child old enough to talk about these things, I do think about it, and I am beginning to realize how difficult it will be to find age-appropriate ways to explain some really terrible and difficult topics. I'll be checking out these books in a couple of years, I'm sure. Also the one with bulldogs baking cookies, because that sounds awesome! ;)

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    1. http://www.amazon.com/Bulldogs-Big-Day-Kate-McMullan/dp/0545171555

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  3. Kyra, I've been wrestling with how to introduce T to the racism that he has yet to experience, but inevitably will. The idea of presenting it along with other "isms" is brilliant. He already knows that there were things I wasn't allowed to do as a kid because I was a girl and girls weren't allowed to do those things then. I think that's my intro. Thank you!

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    1. I thought it was pretty good advice, too.

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  4. Did you tell them how the chickens won't let the bulldogs ride the tractors? Because that is really tough stuff.

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