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Or do you think they just buckle into peer pressure too easily. I saw this interesting social experiment on Dateline, and the majority of white participants failed miserably. The only person who seemed to pass was a teenage boy from a diverse background. I bring this up because I wonder if parents really do have that conversation about equality and standing up for injustice. It starts at home and the reason why there is continued discrimination among many is simply because parents really do not discuss race with there kids.
Bottom line they are what they are and chances are they will continue to buckle into peer pressure as they grow older. All I know is that I hope none of them become hiring managers or recruiters except the 13 year old biracial teen.
We have taught our son to treat people equally and I know he does. In fact, he stood up for a black teammate one time.
All of the kids wear jammer/speedos to practice. One day some of the other teammates were making fun of the tan lines of his black teammate. My son called them out and said to everyone "that's racist." I don't think they were actually being "racist" but he did not have the words to articulate to say "hey, stop making fun of him cause he's different." The teammate came up to my son after practice and thanked him for sticking up for him.
I am so proud of him. He was 14 at the time. He saw injustice and stood up against the crowd.
Some parents intentionally pass down racist tendencies. Some parents may not outwardly be or admit to being racist but think a certain way like accepting stereotypes and discrimination and that in itself contributes to actual racism.
We watched the Dateline show when it aired and I did find it very interesting. Parents who were absolutely positive that their child would speak up and do the right thing were shocked when they gave in to peer pressure.
I did find a few of the setups rather unfair - but over all interesting. Our son was sitting there watching it with me - I hope he really got something out of it. As a parent you do the best you can to instill in your children what values you think are important, then hope for the best it sinks in.
In my house we teach a lot about sticking up for others who are being teased or mistreated for being different (or for any other reason). I've witnessed my son on many occassions step up and tell the offending child some variation of "That's not nice, don't treat NAME like that" it makes me very proud
However racism is something that we had never spoken about until this past MLK day, it was very awkward. The immediate area we live in is something like 95% white so we are in the minority but the general area is a melting pot and is very liberal, we have never experienced any outward racism. So when my son came home the week before MLK day with a little book about the civil rights movement and I discovered that he had a lot of awkward questions about something he had never even considered. I did my best to explain it without corrupting his young mind, it got really uncomfortable though when he asked me if a black person would be allowed to sit with a white person in a restaurant if they were part of the same family. I wasn't going to get into that one...
So no I do not think my child is racist and I do my best to teach tolerance of people despite their color, gender, sexual orientation, religous beliefs, physical disabilities and general disposition.
Or do you think they just buckle into peer pressure too easily. I saw this interesting social experiment on Dateline, and the majority of white participants failed miserably. The only person who seemed to pass was a teenage boy from a diverse background. I bring this up because I wonder if parents really do have that conversation about equality and standing up for injustice. It starts at home and the reason why there is continued discrimination among many is simply because parents really do not discuss race with there kids.
Bottom line they are what they are and chances are they will continue to buckle into peer pressure as they grow older. All I know is that I hope none of them become hiring managers or recruiters except the 13 year old biracial teen.
^^ I agree, that it is important to teach our children about living peacefully and judging people on their character instead of the color of their skin. I know growing up in very diverse areas of the SW, I didn't know racisim was real, because I never experienced it until I moved to GA, which I'm glad I had a wake-up call before coming to TN, because people are brutal!
Racisim hurts everyone in the situation, the victims, attacker and the by standers....Wish people would grow up and get outta the 60's already, it's 2012 for cryin out loud!!!!
My friends 4 year old daughter was taught to run to her mom or caregiver if she sees a black man because he's going to "snatch her up"
The child is mixed black and white, dad not around and mom is white.
Its kind of sick to watch.
The child's dad is black, but she was taught that a black man might "snatch her up"? Is the mother afraid of the father coming back and taking her? I can't see how else this would make sense.
Some parents intentionally pass down racist tendencies. Some parents may not outwardly be or admit to being racist but think a certain way like accepting stereotypes and discrimination and that in itself contributes to actual racism.
I live in an area that one one hand thinks of itself as very progressive, but on the other hand is very classist.
We've had a lot of discussions in our area about redoing school boundaries. While for the most part I feel parents aren't always admitting some of the real motivations, I can't help but feel our community is getting really negative messages from how the discussion has gone.
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