KIDS AND RACISM

Hi everyone! Thought I'd share something short today.

I help out in a middle school classroom and a few days ago, one of the students in my classroom unknowingly and unintentionally made a racist remark in the skit he was performing with his partner. He was pretending to find some money he lost and said "I'm going to go to a Black person's house, Black people steal". 

I was so caught off-guard, I just stared at him and covered my mouth while the 15 Black students (same race but different ethnic backgrounds - duh!) in the class yelled out "Racist! Racist!" and "Yo what hell" and "I'm so shocked". The poor kid just stood there awkwardly smiling. He didn't seem to understand what he'd just said.

The substitute teacher, who was Black, immediately took charge of the situation and began a lesson on stereotypes and racism for the whole class and explained to the student (who was not Black) that race has nothing to do with stealing and that anybody could steal.

The student understood and with his partner, resumed his skit and removed the racist line of his skit. What I noticed was that the other students - besides their initial reaction - did not attack him, weren't even angry with him, and were forgiving. 

That student learned something that day and I did too:

1. Children adopt the racist views of the parents. I have no doubt that what the student had said was something he'd picked up at home.

2. Teachers need to be prepared in case something like this happens and they need to be gentle when "educating" a student who has said something racist whether it was intentional or unintentional.

3. Kids are forgiving. If only adults could be like that! It'd help make the world a better place.