Well, an outright racist thing finally happened--Now what?
Apr 6, 2016 18:29:23 GMT -5
Post by Captain Serious on Apr 6, 2016 18:29:23 GMT -5
I hate to say it, but we always knew it would, and it was just a matter of time and preparing the kids to understand as best as possible.
So, today at baseball practice, J said another boy "punched" him with his glove and told him either, "I don't like you because you're brown" or "Different colors are different." A coach who saw (but I don't think heard) told the other kid to knock it off. As they were moving to another activity, the kid pushed J.
I put punched in quotes, because that's the word J used, but his vocabulary still needs work, and the way he illustrated it, the boy kind of slapped at him with the glove. I don't think that matters too much, in the sense that it's still physical contact, but I just want to be fair in that it's not like this kid put his full force in and wailed on J.
We had a good talk with J about how people have charged feelings about race and why and that kids often learn their ideas from their parents. He mentioned that after Lincoln freed the slaves everyone was happy, and we discussed how that actually wasn't the case, and why. We also talked about how his skin color has nothing to do with what he can or can't do, how smart he is, what kind of person he is, his worth, or anything else. We talked about many dark skinned people we know who are awesome (my dad included), and about people we know in interracial relationships (my parents included). We talked about skin colors changing by sun exposure, but that he will always have "brown" skin. He seems good with not letting someone judge him or decide his worth based on skin color. This is not the first time we had this conversation.
Going forward, though, I don't know what to do. The kid is in J's grade, but a different classroom, and we already decided that J will not be returning to baseball for other reasons (this was just a spring training session, he won't be playing on a team). My concern is that J will have to interact with this kid in school because the whole grade often comes together for activities. J doesn't remember his name, but said he would find out. Once he does, I want to find out if its the same kid that supposedly said something mean to him at school once before (the counselor called us to warn us J might be upset, but J hadn't heard the comment).
Either way, I'm wondering if I should mention something at school. They just finished a segment on diversity in school, and I'm wondering if that triggered some of this. I don't want the kid to get in trouble, but I do wish someone would challenge his views--or at the very least, keep an extra eye out when the boys are around one another.
So, any ideas on how to handle this?
So, today at baseball practice, J said another boy "punched" him with his glove and told him either, "I don't like you because you're brown" or "Different colors are different." A coach who saw (but I don't think heard) told the other kid to knock it off. As they were moving to another activity, the kid pushed J.
I put punched in quotes, because that's the word J used, but his vocabulary still needs work, and the way he illustrated it, the boy kind of slapped at him with the glove. I don't think that matters too much, in the sense that it's still physical contact, but I just want to be fair in that it's not like this kid put his full force in and wailed on J.
We had a good talk with J about how people have charged feelings about race and why and that kids often learn their ideas from their parents. He mentioned that after Lincoln freed the slaves everyone was happy, and we discussed how that actually wasn't the case, and why. We also talked about how his skin color has nothing to do with what he can or can't do, how smart he is, what kind of person he is, his worth, or anything else. We talked about many dark skinned people we know who are awesome (my dad included), and about people we know in interracial relationships (my parents included). We talked about skin colors changing by sun exposure, but that he will always have "brown" skin. He seems good with not letting someone judge him or decide his worth based on skin color. This is not the first time we had this conversation.
Going forward, though, I don't know what to do. The kid is in J's grade, but a different classroom, and we already decided that J will not be returning to baseball for other reasons (this was just a spring training session, he won't be playing on a team). My concern is that J will have to interact with this kid in school because the whole grade often comes together for activities. J doesn't remember his name, but said he would find out. Once he does, I want to find out if its the same kid that supposedly said something mean to him at school once before (the counselor called us to warn us J might be upset, but J hadn't heard the comment).
Either way, I'm wondering if I should mention something at school. They just finished a segment on diversity in school, and I'm wondering if that triggered some of this. I don't want the kid to get in trouble, but I do wish someone would challenge his views--or at the very least, keep an extra eye out when the boys are around one another.
So, any ideas on how to handle this?
