I'm going to give an anecdotal story here, only because I believe it sheds some light on what kids may be experiencing. My family is white, and my oldest daughter attended a public elementary school that was 98% black until 3rd grade. In 3rd grade, she was berated and bullied almost nonstop for being white, the school refused to address it other than to suggest my daughter move to another class, so we transferred her to another school. She attended public school through high school and frequently experienced discrimination based on the color of her skin and witnessed a black boy in 5th grade throw a chair at a teacher, breaking her nose. My middle daughter, who is six years younger than my oldest, started in public elementary school, and she would come home and say things that might be considered racist, like, "The brown boys in my class are bad," and, "The brown boys are always being mean." She wasn't being racist, this was just her personal experience, what she was witnessing in her classroom with her own eyes, her truth. We talked about what was happening in the classroom, and what made her most upset was the behavior of a few boys who refused to listen to the teacher and would sometimes throw things in class. On top of this, when the nightly news was on, she would say things like, "Brown people are being bad," because she saw the photos of people charged with crimes or wanted for a crime, and they were most often people with brown skin. What my daughters saw and experienced doesn't make them racist, it makes them prejudiced - they formed an opinion based on their experiences. I never felt the need to convince my daughters that what they were seeing and experiencing wasn't genuine. What they experienced was what their environment was showing them; their perception was based on what they saw and experienced. About 5 years ago, I moved my two younger children, my middle daughter and my youngest child, a boy, out of public school and into private school and homeschool co-op, respectively. Both the private school and the homeschool are Christian-based and have diverse populations. My son's and daughter's experiences since leaving public school are a complete 180 degrees, and it has changed their perception of people. My kids are now in an environment where Christ is the center of all we do and all we learn, and how we treat on another is based on His life and His actions. When you put a group of people together who all believe in the common goal of treating each other with respect, love, decency, and kindness, you create an environment where that is demonstrated daily, and skin color is obsolete. How will the public school system accomplish the same? Does it even strive to do so?
The public school system will accomplish the same thing when society, which is mostly Christian and theistic starts acting Christ like. We are living what we have sowed. Simple well meaning religious platitudes haven’t and will not solve the problem.
I certainly wouldn’t classify your daughters as racist though certain types definitely would. They sound like sensitive wonderful kids who unfortunately reflect the human condition of association that still plagues adults. You’ve done well by them but, I don’t consider deities viable options.
I'm going to give an anecdotal story here, only because I believe it sheds some light on what kids may be experiencing. My family is white, and my oldest daughter attended a public elementary school that was 98% black until 3rd grade. In 3rd grade, she was berated and bullied almost nonstop for being white, the school refused to address it other than to suggest my daughter move to another class, so we transferred her to another school. She attended public school through high school and frequently experienced discrimination based on the color of her skin and witnessed a black boy in 5th grade throw a chair at a teacher, breaking her nose. My middle daughter, who is six years younger than my oldest, started in public elementary school, and she would come home and say things that might be considered racist, like, "The brown boys in my class are bad," and, "The brown boys are always being mean." She wasn't being racist, this was just her personal experience, what she was witnessing in her classroom with her own eyes, her truth. We talked about what was happening in the classroom, and what made her most upset was the behavior of a few boys who refused to listen to the teacher and would sometimes throw things in class. On top of this, when the nightly news was on, she would say things like, "Brown people are being bad," because she saw the photos of people charged with crimes or wanted for a crime, and they were most often people with brown skin. What my daughters saw and experienced doesn't make them racist, it makes them prejudiced - they formed an opinion based on their experiences. I never felt the need to convince my daughters that what they were seeing and experiencing wasn't genuine. What they experienced was what their environment was showing them; their perception was based on what they saw and experienced. About 5 years ago, I moved my two younger children, my middle daughter and my youngest child, a boy, out of public school and into private school and homeschool co-op, respectively. Both the private school and the homeschool are Christian-based and have diverse populations. My son's and daughter's experiences since leaving public school are a complete 180 degrees, and it has changed their perception of people. My kids are now in an environment where Christ is the center of all we do and all we learn, and how we treat on another is based on His life and His actions. When you put a group of people together who all believe in the common goal of treating each other with respect, love, decency, and kindness, you create an environment where that is demonstrated daily, and skin color is obsolete. How will the public school system accomplish the same? Does it even strive to do so?
Your daughter wasn't being racist, she was simply being honest.
The public school system will accomplish the same thing when society, which is mostly Christian and theistic starts acting Christ like. We are living what we have sowed. Simple well meaning religious platitudes haven’t and will not solve the problem.
I certainly wouldn’t classify your daughters as racist though certain types definitely would. They sound like sensitive wonderful kids who unfortunately reflect the human condition of association that still plagues adults. You’ve done well by them but, I don’t consider deities viable options.