zsana
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Joined: 05 Feb 2005
{Posts: 1032 }
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 Posted: Thu 02 Nov 2006 18:40 Post subject: Teach Children: Racism is a Terrible VIRUS |
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Teach Children: Racism is a Terrible VIRUS
http://bfinterracialmarriage.blogspot.com/2006/08/teach-children-racism-is-terrible.html
| Quote: | In response to my post about the benefits to me of my husband's white privilege, a commenter named Plez wrote:
Evia,
How are you going to explain it to your black son or black daughter when they are no longer able to benefit from their father's white privilege? I had a biracial friend try to commit suicide because he couldn't handle the fact that he was no longer considered white when he went away to college.
Plez, this is a no-brainer for me. Although I benefit from my husband's white privilege, I realize that most of these privileges were acquired at the expense of darker people like me and you (assuming you're black.)
With a biracial child or any nonwhite child growing up in a white supremacist world, this is how it can be explained to even a very young child, and this is how I explained it to my children when they were very young. I said: "There's a virus out there called "racism." This virus is also know as “white supremacy.” This virus was created by a small group of evil white people hundreds of years ago to make some people rich. Many, many people who look like your dad or mom (whichever parent is white) have this virus and they infect as many others as possible with it because they know that the more people they can infect, the more money they will make. Some people who have the virus don’t know they have it, so they infect people by accident just like when you have a cold and other people get it from you when you sneeze. Some people who know they have it will deny they have it because they don’t want to believe they’re sick. Others don’t care if they’re sick because they just want money, power, privilege and they want to take it from darker people. (Mention an arcade game based on the paradigm)
Many of these sick people show they have the virus but some show it in different ways. One way is that people who have lighter skin and straighter hair, like your (dad) or (mom) are treated better by these infected people. Their sickness makes them think that just because a person has lighter skin and straighter hair, that person is better. Some of these sick people even think that lighter people are prettier or more handsome and some even think that lighter people are smarter. Now, we know that's sick, don't we? (Discussion ensues to make sure that the children understand that people who think like this ARE sick.)
Now children, you’re going to meet lots of sick people like this as you grow up and some of these sick people are black people, like mommy or daddy (whichever parent is black). Yes, sadly many black people have the virus too. They get it from sick people in their family and from watching sick people on TV and being around other sick black, white or other people in the community and at school. Mommy or daddy (whichever parent is black) even has relatives who are sick with this terrible virus. We know that these black people are sick because they believe the same things the sick white and other people believe.
You must never let anyone give you this virus and there will be many black and white people who will try to give it to you—nice people, kind people, friendly people, people who sound like they're smart, sneaky people and so on because they don’t know they’re sick or they may just want you to get sick too. Remember this virus wants money and power and the more people who they can infect with this virus, the more money and power the sick white people will have. Now children, can you tell me some of the things that a sick person might say or do. (Discussion ensues to insure that children can identify many types of sick people.) You have to always be on the lookout for people with this virus because remember, this tricky virus can only stay alive if it can get inside lots of peoples’ brains.
Some of these sick people are going to treat you different. They may put you down and even call you names like nigger, or get violent with you. At a time like that, do whatever you need to do defend yourself because this sickness is a killer. It has hurt and killed many, many people, so don't let those people hurt you--no matter who it is.(Have discussion about what children can do in various situations.)"
__________________
LOL!!
Plez, my children used to come home from school and tell me about all the sick children and adults at the school and point out to me the sick people on TV and sick friends of theirs in the neighborhood, and sometimes they would talk about sick folks in our family. We had MANY discussions about this. So the scenario you described would have never happened to my children because I prepared them in advance. |
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