My grandchildren (three
girls) come to me on the weekends their mother and father are on night shift at
the same time. They know the other children in my neighborhood, which is mixed
with White and Black families. They are always excited to play with the other
children, when they come over. They have grown up together in a way because;
they have been playing with each for quite a lot of years now. A few weekends
ago they were playing with my White neighbors children ages range from 4, 6, 8
and 15 as they always do. My grandchildren range from 7, 10 and 13. My granddaughter noticed they had a new dog
in their back yard and asked them when did they get the new dog. One of the
children told her when and then said to her (my dad says he only barks at black
people). This is not the first time they have said words that are offensive about
people of color.
I have always felt their father was prejudiced and this just only
confirmed my thoughts to be true. As an anti-bias educator I said to her to
explain that they are friends and the words were hurtful because, they are too
young to know the difference in what they are saying, they are just repeating
what they have heard. I did not get upset with them because, I have come to
love these children very much, I just felt sorry for them that they may grow up
with hate in their heart for people they have never met. Their father is not very friendly so. I did
not attempt to talk with him. “As you persist through the challenging times and
see the fruit of work, eventually anti-bias education becomes a part of
everything you do. It becomes a way of life” (Derman-Sparks &
Edwards, 2010 p. 20).
Derman-Sparks, L., &
Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and
ourselves. Washington, DC: NAEYC.
Colleague Kathleen:
ReplyDeleteI am sure this was a very painful experience for you and your grand children. It makes one wonder when will it all end and we can live together in pace and harmony despite the fact that we are from different races. This is how your work as an anti-bias educator will be made effective because it is through your support of those children, that your own will be able to overcome the racism being hurled at them. Thank you for your blog!
Sharon
Wow im sorry you and your grandchildren had to experience something like that. Diversity is a hard concept to teach children, but what is even harder is teaching them how to handle painful situations when they arise like this one. I have a hard time believing that society and our world is ever going to change, because people are so set in their ways and how they perceive other people. Being in anti-bias educator is an extremely important job, because we are giving our children the foundation to life they are going to need as they get older. Thank you for your post.
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