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i have never pointed out people's skin color or racial differences to my dc. here we are on this board talking about MLK books and i know dc's class will discuss on tuesday. i am worried about how to explain MLK to him when i want to keep him from thinking race separates us. he is 5. any suggestions how to approach this?
36 replies [ Reply | Watch | Options ]Why not explain the amazing history of the civil rights movement and use it as a teaching moment for right and wrong, If you are white then make sure you don't have only white friends, make an effort to be the way you want your DC to experience the world. You are responsible for their experience.
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I actually used it as an opportunity to talk about how different the world was then and that people believed many things that were wrong about people of color. I made it clear that race did seperate us then but that it no longer does.
[ Reply | Options ]First, I'm surprised that he hasn't talked about this in his class already... my child's K class acted out the Rosa Parks story as part of their discussion of Civil Rights this week. Secondly, I would just explain in terms that he can understand that there used to be laws that said black people and white people (or dark-skinned people and light-skinned people, or whatever you feel comfortable with) could not use the same bathrooms, schools, etc. There were many people who knew that these laws were unfair and fought to change them. MLK Jr. was one of those people... Read some books, talk about these issues, and find out what your child already knows!
[ Reply | Options ]serious Q: do you think he hasn't noticed that people have different skin tones? was he unaware of the issue as it related to the presidential election?
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I have been unsure also about how to frame the topic, so all I said to dc (5 yo) was that this country unfortunately has a history of not treating people fairly based upon the color of their skin, and that MLK was a leader of the people who brought about changes so that we all have equal rights. Then I am leaving it up to the teacher to take it from there, and from what I can tell, teacher is doing a fantastic job, so I would suggest you do the same, since you are at a loss.
[ Reply | Options ]Oh for God's sakes. You might as well have been telling this to your cat. As if your 5-year-old really understands ... or cares.
[ Reply | Options ]I suspect you're the same poster that's been throwing around comments regarding a lack of ability for comprehension, ability to freely communicate and absence of basic processing skills in young, school-aged kids. Maybe there are more than one here today, yet I'd love to be a fly on the wall when your kid realizes you're the one with those issues-not them.
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Race HAS separated humanity for much of history and persists in doing so. It's a wonderful opportunity to expose your child to the effects of history on the way the world is today. Dr King surely added to the luxuries of diversity that we all currently experience and that voice and work are as yet, unfulfilled. Children are powerful and have very strong senses of justice; give him some credit. Go to the library,Bank St Bookstore or take a walking tour of Harlem, discussing street names and the figures to whom they belong. Include him(and yourself) in the work and history of his country and world. He knows we are all different already, no matter what shades of people we are.
[ Reply | Options ]Civil rights are Human rights. It's creating a division to avoid acknowledging and exploring these truths-for yourself and your family-between yourself and the real world. I'm curious if your 5 yr old is aware of the wars going on, 9/11 or many other examples of how cultural, racial and religious differences shape HIS world. What does he know about Pilgrims, The First Nations Peoples, US Geography? You've got to think more roundly.
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Does your dc NOT have kids of color at school? Is the school public or private. MLK is a part of the public school's social studies curriculum.
[ Reply | Options ]^^I told my dc that there was a time when children with white skin and children with black skin couldn't go to school together, sit together on the bus or use the same drinking fountain and now because of MLK children can do it now. But judging from the structure of his school which tends to keep the races seperate, there isn't a lot of black and white children walking hand and hand to the promise land.
[ Reply | Options ]I think you have a bigger problem than explaining MLK as this school you are describing seems like a segregated fright. I'm seeing separate proms in your DCs future.
[ Reply | Options ]OP: i had the same feeling when i stopped breast feeding, when it was time to potty train, when dc first started daycare, when dc walked into his SB test alone, without me in the room, etc.....he knows people have different skincolors..he refers to some people as the ones with the brown skin and to us as having "yellow" skin. He does not know black and white. It's a new step for me to expand his world and start to see the evil that has and does exist, that's all. I am not comfortable explaining because i what to protect him from thinking that anyone suffers at the hands of others. he understands that Spiderman kills bad guys, that we die, etc.,..he is not completely sheltered. He knows about the President and the fact that we have a new one but he does not understand the scope of what that means.
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When my 5 yr old was in K, the school briefly touched upon the underground railroad in class.
[ Reply | Options ]I Have a Dream Speech delivered by Martin Luther King, Jr. on August 28, 1963 Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity. But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition. In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of the Negro. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges. But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There
[ Reply | Options ]I was just over a month old when Dr King delivered that speech. Today, it's relevance is no less. This isn't a day off from banks, schools and alternate side of the street parking; it's a day of recognition for a great man who was blessed with wisdom and strength, which he shared, resoundingly. As we watched that speech at home today, I felt so fortunate that our children live in a time when we can pull this up on the web, on disc, video or multiple other sources. As a kid, I was taught these words fromtranscripted text, only seeing the footage in drips and the same repeated bytes. It is an amazing sermon for the human race and today's America.
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