Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Prejudice is alive and well.

Read Angela's post, and tell me what you think.

This was my comment: You're right, most prejudices are passed down, generation to generation. Ignorant to ignorant. Parenting is hard work and many aren't prepared.

When we raised our daughters, I emphasized, avoiding prejudice and presenting diversity.  It wasn't easy, we lived in a very nice white-bread neighborhood.  On of the things I did as a SAHM, was to enroll my girls in pre-school, not just any pre-school, but the Child Study Center, at Long Beach City College.  There were two campuses and two Child Study Centers.  I chose the furthest away from our white-bread neighborhood, in order to give our children the broadest exposure to people who were different from us.  I'd say my experiment worked.  Our daughters' friends are a wonderful mix.  

I'm not going to post about what a wonderful parent I was/am, because I know I failed in many ways.  But, I will tell  you, any time you ask, what wonderful daughters we have.

7 comments:

Attila the Mom said...

Oh, I'm so there!

When our Little Guy was in the 5th grade, we had a birthday party and invited his entire class. These kids were so incredibly thoughtful---they knew exactly what his interests were and brought gifts accordingly.

Shortly before the end of the party, many of the parents came to "hang out" before picking up their kids. I was standing in a group of moms---none who had ever been in my home before and one said, "I had no idea that Little Guy has autism. XXXXX (her daughter) never said anything and she talks about him all the time."

A couple of the other moms nodded their heads and in a way I was flabbergasted. It really gave me the warm fuzzies that these kids didn't see my son as "other" but as one of their own.

Children are so adaptable. I think it's great that a kids' show has a prominent personality who has a disability. Poo on those parents who are offended or don't want to start a dialog with their kids.

And kudos to you!!

Allie said...

It's hard around here too...mostly white. We are getting more and more diversity every day it seems, and my kids despite the overly white population don't care. I think it's amazing how children could care less what color the skin is. Everyone is a potential friend regardless, we could learn a lot from children. They are completely nonjudgmental if they don't hear or see their parents' judging or being prejudice.

Jan n Jer said...

Prejudice is learned by example. You learn what you live. I came from a very prejudice family. Didnt realize it until I was much older. As my own children grew, I tried to set a good example to not be judgemental towards others. They turned out pretty good, I am proud of them.

Daryl said...

You may feel or believe you failed but I think that the 'proof' of your parenting success is that your daughters are so terrific!

Jientje said...

I loved the last two sentences of this post.
It shows what a wonderful person you are!

Zoe said...

All I can say is "wow". I never ceased to be amazed by people's ignorance.

Alison said...

our area is very diverse, thankfully, and our children don't know how to differentiate between ethnicities. They will say "the girl with the red shirt" instead of the black or asian or whatever girl. I will never forget when my daughter was 3 and taking swimming lessons. My mom asked her which teacher was her teacher and she said " the girl wearing the white hat". Her teacher was the only black person in the pool and she described her by her hat. It warmed my heart that she was so color blind. My son is the same way now...I love it!!

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