The Bully Named Racism - Softcover

Inhaltsangabe

Dear Parent,

Many mothers and fathers have hopes of their children not growing up to be racist adults. Despite this altruistic dream, most children learn to be racist at a very young age. As a parent, you may think that if you avoid talking about racism and refrain from using racial slurs in the home, your children will not grow up to be American racists. This avoidance, even with the purest of intentions, will not protect your child from the racial conditioning of the mass media and other social influences. Simply put, avoiding the “race talk” is not the cure or answer for raising a non-racist child. Why? Because children are not colorblind. They see race just as clearly as adults. With this ability to see differences in skin color comes curiosity and questioning.

Because of fear, political correctness, and a host of other personality factors, many parents choose not to discuss race with their children. This lack of dialogue about the complex subjects of race and racism results in many children being left on their own to piece together the profoundly complex puzzle of American race relations.

The intersection between race, American culture, and human nature is very complex. Because of this complexity, leaving a child on their own to wander the maze of American Racism can be a dangerous parenting strategy. This type of parenting approach will likely result in the young inquisitive mind coming up with problematic conclusions to their race-based questions and curiosities. Without strategic parental guidance, the reasoning capacities of the developing child can consciously and subconsciously travel down the path of prejudice and discrimination.

The purpose of this book is to provide parents and teachers with a gateway or platform for having the “race talk” with their children. Essentially, this story should be viewed as a pathway to deeper communications about race and racism. Furthermore, this book serves the purpose of instilling into children the notion that all people are equal no matter the color of their skin!

Some parents may wish to read this book with or to their child and answer questions along the way. Other parents may choose to allow their child to read the book on their own and then engage in discussion afterwards. There is no right or wrong approach. Whatever approach you take as a parent, just make certain you are intentional about steering your child’s thoughts and feelings down the path of equality and fairness.

Andre R. Fields, Ph.D.

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