Guest blog post by Melanie Hildebrandt; Temple Shalom Member
Last Sunday, Temple Shalom hosted a discussion entitled, "Talking with our Children about Race." Around 50 people turned up to participate. I was there - the first to show up. My family and I moved to Newton from Singapore less than two years ago. In Singapore our daughter was the only white kid in her class. Our friends were from all around the world, and many of them did not look like us. We traveled often and saw people and circumstances that were very different from us and ours. When we moved to Newton, we noted how drastically white and fancy our lives and our surroundings had become. Our daughter was now older, and she noticed too. In fact, she let us know she was uncomfortable sometimes with people who look different than us. I want her and her little brothers to be open-minded and conscious about race. I want them to understand our white privilege. We try to talk about it as much as I can - but am I doing enough? What else can I do? I went to get more ideas.
Madeline McNeely, the workshop facilitator walked the group through definitions and basic concepts around race, diversity, unconscious bias and other related topics. We then broke into small groups to discuss what conversations we have had with our children about racism and what our challenges have been. She explained that children see differences, and when they discuss it, it doesn't carry the baggage that we as adults have. It's often without judgement. She also told us that many white households do not discuss race at home.
We all left understanding that the issues are not simple, and that it is important to struggle with it - along with our children. There is no one age to start, and there is no one way to do it. Open discourse is critical, sharing media (videos, books) that can then be discussed is a great start. Our resource list is long, and there is a lot to discuss.
Last Sunday, Temple Shalom hosted a discussion entitled, "Talking with our Children about Race." Around 50 people turned up to participate. I was there - the first to show up. My family and I moved to Newton from Singapore less than two years ago. In Singapore our daughter was the only white kid in her class. Our friends were from all around the world, and many of them did not look like us. We traveled often and saw people and circumstances that were very different from us and ours. When we moved to Newton, we noted how drastically white and fancy our lives and our surroundings had become. Our daughter was now older, and she noticed too. In fact, she let us know she was uncomfortable sometimes with people who look different than us. I want her and her little brothers to be open-minded and conscious about race. I want them to understand our white privilege. We try to talk about it as much as I can - but am I doing enough? What else can I do? I went to get more ideas.
Madeline McNeely, the workshop facilitator walked the group through definitions and basic concepts around race, diversity, unconscious bias and other related topics. We then broke into small groups to discuss what conversations we have had with our children about racism and what our challenges have been. She explained that children see differences, and when they discuss it, it doesn't carry the baggage that we as adults have. It's often without judgement. She also told us that many white households do not discuss race at home.
We all left understanding that the issues are not simple, and that it is important to struggle with it - along with our children. There is no one age to start, and there is no one way to do it. Open discourse is critical, sharing media (videos, books) that can then be discussed is a great start. Our resource list is long, and there is a lot to discuss.
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