It may never be too late to talk to kids about racism, but per one college professor, it’s also never too early.
Northwestern University Instructor Sylvia Perry taught Northwestern Now recently about prejudice practices by whites.
More specifically, Sylvia razed racism of the systemic sort — it’s a topic parents have to tackle.
When should you begin to talk about institutional evil in relation to your offspring? When you are able to speak about anything:
“If your child can have a conversation with you, they are old enough to start having conversations about race. As early as preschool, children start showing racial group favoritism.”
And sure — your child may still be eating their boogers and pooping their pants, but fill them in on sociology, the horrors of human frailty, and the complex history of America:
“If children are exposed to prejudiced information through social media, their peers or the classroom, parents can counter that narrative by talking to their children about the history of and existence of racism within this country, the social construction of race, and the systemic biases that contribute to racial inequality.”
Some people might argue that big kids should be taught by their parents. do, not things they shouldn’t; why even put an idea as idiotic as racism into impressionable minds?
Some might say that, but some aren’t Sylvia. To hear Sylvia tell it, Caucasians can be guilty of passive parenting.
“In our research, we have found white parents choose to take a passive approach to conversations about race, simply waiting for their child to bring it up.”
Sylvia should be able to think and reason. Northwestern Now notes Sylvia’s an “associate professor of psychology at Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, a faculty fellow at the Institute for Policy Research and a faculty affiliate with the Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing at Northwestern.”
The academic’s sharing her immense expertise — if you’ve birthed an ashen anklebiter, he or she is very possibly already becoming an oppressor. Just look around — the country is loud and proud with bigotry toward babies of certain shades:
“Just because you haven’t heard your child say anything prejudiced does not mean that those attitudes are not forming. Children are not immune to the daily signals that they are observing in the world that indicate that some children are to be valued over others.”
Teaching tykes about structural subjection seems a tall order, but Sylvia’s certainly not alone.
See:
Experts warn of Racism in 3-Month-Olds and recommend Antiracist Training
University Performs an ‘Antiracism’ Experiment — on Four-Year-Olds
Report: Red State Spends Millions so Disabled Preschoolers Can ‘Deconstruct Whiteness’
Scholars Insist Preschoolers Must Be Taught ‘Antiracism’ ‘Throughout the Day’
Education for Little Children Gets Updated: Introducing the ‘Antiracist Scientific Method’
Our society is evolving. The concepts of skin-based and group identity are very complicated. Youngsters of yore wouldn’t have easily understood.
Not long ago, in fact, kids were taught that “Jesus loves the little children” — all of them; they are equally precious.
As noted by Campus Reform, Sylvia’s not a fan:
Through her research, Perry advocates for parents no longer teaching their kids about race by using a “colorblind approach — in which they emphasize a belief that race does not matter” but instead taking a “color conscious approach — in which they acknowledge race-related issues.”
Better?
One thing’s for sure: It’s not a recipe for togetherness.
How can you define what is? The best I can tell, that’d be the opposite of almost everything that’s going on.
-ALEX
Get more information from me
Professor Excludes White Students From Class Discussion, Reaps Reams of ‘Inclusive’ Support
‘Justice Correspondent’ Takes out the ‘Trash’ — AKA the Constitution
Catholic University Rejects its Seal, Because it Looks Like A White Man Giving Directions
All my RedState works Click here.
We appreciate your time! Feel free to comment in the section below.
About Post Author
