First-Grade Race Relations

First-Grade Race Relations

Monday, January 21, 2008

Julie's Mom•Logic: When I talked to my son about Martin Luther King Jr., I couldn't believe the question he asked me!

"The other day, I was talking to my 6-year-old son about Martin Luther King Day. First, I asked if he knew who Martin Luther King, Jr. was. "He's the guy who saw signs saying 'No Blacks' in parks, so he gave a speech, and now those signs aren't there anymore," he said. "And if someone put up one of those signs, they'd get arrested." Not bad for a first grader. As I nodded in approval, he said, "Mommy, am I white?" I, like many parents, feel a little weird talking about race—like, are we supposed to be talking about this? I nodded uneasily. Then he looked at me and said, "Mommy, are you black?" I bust out laughing, since my light skin is about as lily-white as you can get. I love that my son doesn't know the difference between white and black. I wish we were all colorblind. Once again, I've learned a life lesson from him."

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Dear Friend, i find it so amazing and so noble that your son does not know the difference between colours and especially that he is not touched by the poison of prejudices that has destroyed lives of so many. I am so happy that the Bahá’í Religion i believe in transformed me with its teaching, “Today the one overriding need is unity and harmony among the beloved of the Lord, … they must bring to an end the benighted prejudices of all nations and religions and must make known to every member of the human race that all are the leaves of one branch, the fruits of one bough.” (Abdu’l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha, p. 277) You are such a happy Mom and I wish you and your son all the blessings of God! Vera Danilenka, Belarus

- Vera

Posted 01/21/08 04:52 PM

Searching for blogs about racial unity and came upon your post. I am a pre-k teacher. There is a book called The Color of Us. I read it to my class every year. It talks about how our skins are all different shades of brown. I think it is awesome that your son doesn’t see color, but I also think it is important to understand no matter what color our skin what makes us who we are is what’s inside.

- hbomb

Posted 01/24/08 05:20 PM

I dont think that we should be ignoring races, like everyone says. We need to learn to accept people who are different and embrace different cultures and types of beauty.

- Anna

Posted 09/15/08 11:25 AM