Fear and Loathing - Its roots
A mentionable for all you white chocolate junkies. Hersey's kisses white chocolate with candy cane pieces...IF a woman were to choose chocolate over sex, this little piece of heaven would be the deciding factor. Absolutely amazing!
Now, crawl into my brain and listen to a story and a new theory.
They say that racism is not born, but rather bred. I would agree. They say that children are not intolerant or even racist of others by nature, unless such intolerance or racism has been taught to them. I disagree. Racism and intolerance is fueled by fear. The seed of fear, if not settled breeds more fear, breeds intolerance of diversity, breeds racism. These are the seeds;
It was almost bedtime for the little ones and we were having our usual my big bed cuddle and chat. We were talking about skin color this evening. How are skin can change color with the sun, or how we have different skin color depending on where we come from. The chat was light until my 4 year old whispered. "I just don't like those black people". I was sure I had misunderstood. I asked her to repeat. She said it again, only I think she may have said hate black people. My first response was to recoil and then come back, full force. Freak on her for uttering such
disrespect for fellow human beings. I didn't do that. Instead I asked her why she hated black people. She answered " Because they scare me" The big lightbulb went on in my head and I thought , This is it! This is the moment in every little kids life when they confront diversity and fear for the very first time. How their parents ( or whichever adult was in range of that comment) respond to that comment will draft the blueprint for how this child may see racial/religious/cultural diversity in the future. There will be the parent who will pat their kid on the head and say "Good boy Johnny. Those blacks should go back to Africa. They are dirty, poor , ignorant thieves ,thus fuelling his childs existant fear . I took this precious opportunity to teach. I asked her about her best friend Jamie. Why was Jamie her best friend? What makes her special? How much do you like Jamie" Her reply was emotional. Jamie loves to play barbies, Jamie shares her cookies. James loves watching Ice Age. Jamie is her bestest friend in the world. I asked if she would still like Jamie if Jamie was black. She paused and then said, yes. Jamie would always be her best friend. I told her that just because someone's skin was a different color, doesn't mean they aren't a really amazing person. Someone who could be your very best friend. I told her that she shouldn't fear someone who is different. She should get to know them, share their similarities and their differences. Learn about each other . She thought that was a great idea. She would share her Dora pencil crayons,thus quelling this childs fear
It all felt right.
Now, crawl into my brain and listen to a story and a new theory.
They say that racism is not born, but rather bred. I would agree. They say that children are not intolerant or even racist of others by nature, unless such intolerance or racism has been taught to them. I disagree. Racism and intolerance is fueled by fear. The seed of fear, if not settled breeds more fear, breeds intolerance of diversity, breeds racism. These are the seeds;
It was almost bedtime for the little ones and we were having our usual my big bed cuddle and chat. We were talking about skin color this evening. How are skin can change color with the sun, or how we have different skin color depending on where we come from. The chat was light until my 4 year old whispered. "I just don't like those black people". I was sure I had misunderstood. I asked her to repeat. She said it again, only I think she may have said hate black people. My first response was to recoil and then come back, full force. Freak on her for uttering such
disrespect for fellow human beings. I didn't do that. Instead I asked her why she hated black people. She answered " Because they scare me" The big lightbulb went on in my head and I thought , This is it! This is the moment in every little kids life when they confront diversity and fear for the very first time. How their parents ( or whichever adult was in range of that comment) respond to that comment will draft the blueprint for how this child may see racial/religious/cultural diversity in the future. There will be the parent who will pat their kid on the head and say "Good boy Johnny. Those blacks should go back to Africa. They are dirty, poor , ignorant thieves ,thus fuelling his childs existant fear . I took this precious opportunity to teach. I asked her about her best friend Jamie. Why was Jamie her best friend? What makes her special? How much do you like Jamie" Her reply was emotional. Jamie loves to play barbies, Jamie shares her cookies. James loves watching Ice Age. Jamie is her bestest friend in the world. I asked if she would still like Jamie if Jamie was black. She paused and then said, yes. Jamie would always be her best friend. I told her that just because someone's skin was a different color, doesn't mean they aren't a really amazing person. Someone who could be your very best friend. I told her that she shouldn't fear someone who is different. She should get to know them, share their similarities and their differences. Learn about each other . She thought that was a great idea. She would share her Dora pencil crayons,thus quelling this childs fear
It all felt right.
posted by Sandi at 11:18 PM
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