Unless you live under a rock, you know the social issues of race, racial profiling, and the fact that the US isn't as far along in racial equality as most white people think is every where now.
The terrible shooting of Trayvon Martin, horrible responses to Rue in Hunger Games being portrayed by an African-American actress, and other random things in the news are just the tip of the iceberg.
All this got me thinking about The Peanut and making sure she's raised to understand no one is better than anyone because of their race. It is even more important to me since we moved to our new place and she has made new friends that aren't the same color as her. To her beautiful 4 year old mind, there is no race. It just happens that a few of her little friends have different color skin. In fact a conversation about this went as follows:
The Peanut: My friend [name] is brownish.
Me: Yup.
The Peanut: My skin is pinkish
Me: Yup.
The Peanut: I feel treatish. Can I have something yummy?
This filled me with joy. Then I started thinking. Right now, she doesn't care. I think we're raising a loving little girl that sees past color. But that's the problem. I assume. And that is my dilemma. How do I make sure she understands that there are people in this world that judge someone just because they have dark skin? How do I explain slavery, the Civil Rights Movement, the KKK? How do I tell her that some people are cruel and say horrible things about some of her friends?
Then I decided, I will just do my best and use every learning opportunity to make sure she understands the best that she can.
