ancestorswatching:

Teaching people to be anti-racist starts with parents and children.

My first memory of experiencing racism is from 2003. I was 8 years old, one of a literal handful of POC students at Six Mile Elementary, on the playground at recess. Everyone who knows me well knows about this, because it has stuck with me for 17 years. Another 8 year old boy told me to “go back to Africa” and called me a nigger.

I remember telling him I’d never been to Africa. I don’t remember exactly how I felt. I bet I was confused.

He wasn’t evil. He wasn’t bad. He was a child. He was repeating what he’d heard at home.

Around the same time, a girl moved to our town with her family from Africa. When the other kids bullied her, I remember saying, “You guys know I’m like her right? I’m black too.” One of the boys responded, “You’re not like her. You’re one of us.” I don’t remember how I felt, but I probably felt a sick sort of honor. That same boy grew up and in our 12th grade year he made fun of my friends for their dialect and made fun of our hair. He was basically a man then. He had grown up, and his character was set. He had learned from his parents, grandparents, and neighbors.

Racist adults were once racist children. Racist cops were once children whose teachers taught them to discriminate, instilled bias and violence in them from birth. They brought those values into their police work, and thousands of innocent Black people pay the price. Have paid it.

It’s not enough to say, “I’m not racist.” You must read to your children about diversity, about acceptance, about love. When your children come home and repeat the racist things their friends said, you must say, “No. We don’t judge people based on their skin color. We don’t say all people of a certain group act a certain way. You are not better than anyone else because of your white skin. You are to stand up for your black and brown friends.”

Change starts with you. Take action now. Raise better people.