Posted on 03/31/2014 6:01:45 PM PDT by Altura Ct.
Last summer, my family moved from Brooklyn to a small town in the Hudson Valley. We love our new life, but one thing about the community is not so great: It’s predominantly white. What will it mean in the long run if my white children don’t see and befriend people who come from different racial backgrounds? And are there steps I can take to instill racial sensitivity and acceptance in my kids despite the fact that they’re growing up in an ethnic bubble?
To find out, I dug into research on the causes of racial bias and talked to developmental and social psychologists, race-relations researchers, and Africologists. The good news is that the answer seems to be yes—there are things I can do to keep my kids from harboring racial prejudice. Namely, I can talk to them about race.
First, a caveat: I’m writing this article as a white parent with white kids living in a mostly white neighborhood. I know that my experiences, perspectives, and considerations differ markedly from those of parents with different ethnic backgrounds living in different situations, and I also realize that I know nothing about the racial landscape that minority parents have to navigate with their kids. For many minority parents, talking about race is not an option—it’s essential in helping their children move through a world that sees a “black kid” and not just a kid. Although I talked to researchers with diverse backgrounds while reporting my piece, I’m guessing that my findings and advice will apply predominantly to white parents like me. Still, I would love to hear from all readers on the issues discussed in this column, so please, send your thoughts, advice, and feedback to melindawmoyer@gmail.com.
(Excerpt) Read more at slate.com ...
Leave it to a liberal Democrat parent to not know how to raise a kid to not hate other people.
Maybe we could come up with a way to mix kids in the public schools. We could call it “bussing”.
:-P
I apologize for wasting my time and yours.
FMCDH(BITS)
Tolerance:
“The Virtue of having a belief in NOTHING!!
You should dump your children once a week in an inner city so they can understand diversity.
Wonder why the lib moved out of Brooklyn? My guess is he did not like all of the issues that came with the urban environment and the multicultural issues of the city. Now he doesn’t want his kids to know.
Excellent point. The author moved to get their kids away from the “diversity” of urban life. He will not be heard to complain.
Ms. Wenner Moyer (the author) doesn't say WHY her family moved.
And are we to believe more diverse neighborhoods weren't available to move to? Just how important could "diversity" be to her, if she chose a place so ... um... "white" in which to settle.
Unless she's like so many liberals -- loves to bemoan her "whiteness" while simultaneously (unconsciously?) seeking it out. For SOME reason.
Extended race cringe by some White doofus.
What she is advocating amounts to child abuse. Her kids will grow up ignorant of racial realities and will easy prey for feral blacks because they will ignore any red flags about their presence or character for fear of being “racist”.
“Wonder why the lib moved out of Brooklyn?”
Cost of living. Rents in most Brooklyn neighborhoods (any of the neighborhoods the author is likely to have lived in, anyway) are absolutely insane. Forget about buying a place.
“We love our new life, but one thing about the community is not so great: It’s predominantly white.”
Well, that’s racist. If liberal racists like this author don’t like white people then perhaps they should practice some form of self-segregation.
Granted I’d prefer a world where people weren’t discriminated against, insulted for, or profiled because of, their whiteness. Truly, it would be nice if bigots like the article’s author didn’t run around judging people because of their race and simply accept being a member of a community regardless of the color of said community.
But I’m a realist and I can admit that life-long racists like this article’s author aren’t going to be swayed by facts, moral appeals, or positive personal experiences with white people. Given the intractability of white-hating liberals, I’m willing to accept as a solution the feasible expedient of encouraging said hatemongers to relocate to their own small-minded, hateful, dysfunctional communities. Better still if such communities are in another nation, so we don’t have to listen to their incessant racist whining or deal with the political and economic fallout from their schizophrenic social policies.
If that’s the case — and I don’t doubt it — one must really question the author’s sincerity about diversity. There must be dozens, or hundreds, of places she and her family could have moved where “diversity” is the name of the game. But they chose a “white” place. Hmmm. I may have to email her myself.
“Africologists?”
Oh, for God’s Sake, will these leftoids ever stop??
“befriend”? The guy is heavly into white mans burdon.
CC
Dear Reader, we absolutely adore our life in the lily white suburb here! It’s so much fun! Less crime! Less risk! Yet what do I do about guilt, that we moved to a pure snowy white place, and enjoy it so much? Is there a quick, speedy way to get my kids used to all races, without having to place them into such a situation? Could we maybe pay a monthly sum to have an ethnic token visit our home? Or would watching certain TV shows or listening to certain music do the trick? Thanks.
“What will it mean in the long run if my white children don’t see and befriend people who come from different racial backgrounds?”
Not a thing. I grew up in a town of less than 10,000. From kindergarten through high school there were no blacks in our community, not one. A few Indians from the reservation and a handful of Mexicans was as ethnic as we got. The first black people I ever met were in boot camp. That included several of the drill sergeants so I did the best I could to get along with everybody. I still do.
Whites, Blacks, Filipinos, Polish, Jews, poor Southern Whites who couldn’t sign their own papers, college grads and big dumb oafs from all walks of life, thrown together in an old wooden barracks for two months, sleeping cheek by jowl in metal bunk beds. Tolerance and stand your ground, you learned both. I don’t know why people make such a big out of it.
Reminds me of Michael Moore who lives in a 96% white neighborhood.
Why should these lefty limousine liberal hypocrites advise us about anything.
Nobody moves to an area like that without knowing the stats.
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