Race Essay Essay

In our society, racial inequality has always been a concerning issue for past decades, but certain parents’ state their opinions on the open discussions of our history and present with racism. The question of whether or not they should speak to their children about the racism that certain individuals receive has caused controversy in our society. There are parents who claim that they have unbiased judgments on the topic while others strongly commit to reminding the children that racism should be an important topic that should be talked over. Parents differ when it comes to the message they project towards children about race, but the message changes with children’s capacity to understand it. So the actual importance is if children should be introduced to the racial madness at such a young age like we have been doing in schools and in society or should the parents stand up and eliminate the racial topic for good. Although with the parents that are not overly racist, there is multiple concerns of whether or not to speak to their children about how their own race discriminates certain people in our society. Furthermore, there are numerous people in our society, especially parents, who believe we should consider not bringing up racism to future generations and instead take the step into a post racial era since we have improved tremendously in race relations. On the contrary, some parents believe the discussion of racism is important for children to be aware of the outcome it has produced and the background of why racism occurs, and in this case, I do strongly agree with the parents. There are a few parents whom have decided not to speak about racism. They believe the media nor did neighbors and friends play a crucial part in their decision making. They consider Reyna 2 themselves unbiased to all the controversy that occurs in their community over the racism topic, especially when it comes from a white individual. Without the society’s ideas swirled up in their mind, the parents are able to describe every perspective that can be observed of the racism. The importance of being able to see every angle of the racism that the minority group receives will help eliminate the bias judgment that we witness in the media or what we are told by others. With this in mind, the decision to consider the topic of racism in family conversations becomes easier to either bring up or shut down. It becomes easier because parents are able to discuss and inform their children that there is more than just one perspective that society defines as racism against the minority ethnicity. White parents can defend themselves from the ignorant comments and stories that people tell about their racial comments towards the African Americans. It is easier to speak about racism than to keep quiet in today’s society, but that seems to be the problem. On the contrary, white parents can also choose not to speak about the racial topic by ignoring it completely. Shutting down the media and any outside influence can assist furtherly with the unbiased decision to choose not to speak to their children about it. In today’s society, it is difficult to say that parents are not influenced in some way in their choices in life. Although parents can shut down the influence from the media, it is impossible to do the same to their children without turning them away from society as well. In all truth, once the child steps out of their home and their parent’s view on society and racism, the child is left vulnerable to society biased judgments on racism and everything else. There are parents who allow the media and any other influential speaker effect their decision on whether they, as not so overly racist yet biased parents, should intensify and enhance to their children about racism in their community and in the society. A majority of the parents are influenced by the media’s portrayal of discrimination on African Americans. Parents who choose to speak about racism to Reyna 3 their children after hearing and witnessing stories and racist acts throughout the country, will either help stop discrimination or unintentionally influence further acts of racism. In reference to the book of â€Å"The Color of the Water†, racial equality was shown to be unbalanced through the society and the effect it had on people since they witnessed it in their own family. In the book, James, one of the Ruth’s 12 kids, had taken it upon himself to write down every single detail that flooded back from his mother’s past. Throughout this James discovered how strong his mother was due to all the things she had to go through and the protection she enhanced for her kids. She protected them because she knew racism would be their biggest trouble and the consequences it would lead to. Society has a lot to do with the influence of racism. Future parents should remind their children of the horror of racism that occurred decades past, or should they just ignore it and try to move past it? In my opinion, speaking about racism seems to be the best way to go. Usually the second most influential people in parents’ decision making are neighbors and friends. They communicate with each other and speak of all their experiences which leads to further leverage on racism itself. Lastly, parents’ own assumption on racial inequality will influence their manner of discussing it to their children. Once parents decide to speak to their children about racism, question rise that become too difficult to answer and the biggest issue is parents’ own prejudice. If the answers aren’t well understood by the children it might lead to trouble and further racism. Sometimes children witness their parent’s unintentional discriminations towards other adults even when it is taught to be moral and caring for others which can also lead to further racism. This is why parents should try to educate their children of racism in order to avoid any misjudgments of their parent’s or anybody else’s actions, and this will help avoid their children’s own unintentional racism towards African Americans. Nelson Mandela inspired people with a few words that would better understand this topic, â€Å"No one is Reyna 4 born hating another person because of the color of their skin. People learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, then they can learn to love†¦ † In reference to all the parent decision on whether they, as white parents, should talk to their children about racism. In my opinion as well as most people, believe that the more parents talk about the racism the easier it will become to educate future generations of what they should not do in society. Our goal as a society, and the reason behind the social experiment that the United States is experiencing, is to create a post racial era. There is a fear that if people don’t remind their children about racial history then it is likely to cause racial discrimination to occur once again and have history repeat itself. As true as that might be, it is also more likely to be wrong. In many cases, the children might begin to get ideas of past discriminations to inflict on current black children. The stereotype about the minority group will keep at stand which will eventually lead to the continuation of the racism. Therefore, the parents and society as well are pressured to continue speaking to their children about racism in order to help them understand the meaning and the harm it does on the victims. [African Americans] Although the future may not be predicted, parents whom decide not to speak about racism, all because it doesn’t seem important to address it anymore, are probably causing our society more harm than good. Some parents do not intend to speak about the racial discrimination because it draws negative attention to the society, and even if all their reasons seem logical, education has always proved to be far more successful than any other option. The parents who refuse to bring up the topic of racism in their family have very strong views about it that should be considered by others. There was once a research program done in 2011 where a few psychologist wanted to ask questions to white parents about their communication with their children about racism. At first the parents didn’t know what the topic Reyna 5 of the questions would be during the research, but as soon as they were told the topic, many parent withdrew from the experiment due to it discussing racism with their children. The parents strongly believed that there shouldn’t be an open discussion with their offspring about race and the discrimination among the minority group. It came as a shock to the psychologists and scientist over the outcome that was displayed before the research was even done. Without even knowing, the research team developed new results on the topic of race without successfully completing their research on their primary experiment and questionnaire. The simple answer was that the white parents that were supposed to participate didn’t want their children to be aware of the inhumane discrimination over skin complexity. They, also, didn’t want to expose them to the violence that arises from racial discrimination such as the hate crimes, the segregation, and the bullying of children their same age. Although many won’t comprehend the reason behind the racism, discussing it will only seem to promote racism in the eyes of the children even when many parents disagree. The parents should not speak about racism because there is a fear, naivete and denial from the white parent’s own thoughts that if they do speak about it to their children the whole truth can become misinterpreted or in many cases, biased. There is an article by Dr. Harris-Britt that goes over the reasons why white parents should not speak about race. Dr. Harris-Britt speaks about the fear, denial, and naivete that parents encounter as being a negative decision. By them discussing to their children the increasing issue of racial discrimination, the attention that racism is receiving becomes unbearable. The point of view that the article feeds to the reader goes hand in hand with the section of this essay where the racism discussion in families and the white population should avoid each other. Parents may fear their own thoughts and the truth of their judgments towards African Americans. Parents can deny the color discrimination that happens in Reyna 6 their own home, or community. Many will believe that we are already in the post racial era, and will use this belief in order to not openly discuss the subject with their children. Although we do not yet live in a post racial era, we can soon get there if racial discussions can be eliminated. If people would stop dividing them self by race, and focused on their own unintentional discrimination that they might give off, the white race parents won’t find it necessary to warn or inform their children of the racial discrimination that will probably occur to their African American friends, acquaintances, or classmates. In my opinion, these should be used as examples to enhance and persuade other parents that it is far much better to inform all children of racism before they receive or misinterpret other information given to them by someone else, like the media. Some parents will argue that racial ignorance erases the history and experiences that led up to the freedom from racism, hence why those as parents should speak of other race’s experiences and hardships in order to prevent them from happening again. In reference to an article titled 5 Reasons We Need To Talk to Kids about Race in America by Bree Ervin, it states that parents of the white race should consider speaking to their children about race, especially by beginning at the youngest age where they can understand what they’re being told. With all the reasons given, Bree Ervin has sided with the parents who strongly suggest it is the right choice to speak out to our children about racial history and the changes that must be done to prevent history repeating itself. The strong argument is that when we are â€Å"color-blind,† we also tend to discount or dismiss other people’s experiences of race, racism, and bigotry. Parents should not only speak about racism, but should educate their children as well because educating their children about race helps them fight racism and create change. A good example of childhood education about racism would be a TED video of a woman named Chimamanda. Chimamanda Reyna 7 was a Nigerian woman that was well thought and informed at such a young age. In the TED video about Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, she spoke of a childhood story where her parents educated her about the African Americans racial history and that how their own black race was a part of our country’s history, not just the perspective of the whites that most books mention. They wanted her to have more than one view on what the people of our country have gone through. Although Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s parents were not of the white race, it was still necessary for them to teach and have discuss the topic with an open mind. By informing of the past to the next generation, parents will be able to prevent racism of African Americans. It is always a difficult decision on what is right or wrong for a child to know. No matter what decision the parents end up making at the end of the day, every parent thinks they are doing what is best for their child. Some parents are worried that by not informing their children about the active racism that is and has been going on for so long in the United States, the children will only end up falling into the black hole of the negative racism attention that is occurring. Although they may have a point, the rest of the parents aren’t prejudiced nor biased nor are they influenced by any other media source or individual and have concluded that is safer not to mention or allow children to discuss racism among the family or anywhere else because it only feeds on the negative attention that it promotes. It is hard to say which is the right choice that the white parents should make about racism, but they both do indeed have good reasons behind their view on it. We have to be armed with the fact to give our kids what they are owed which is honest conversations about the reality of the world that they are inheriting, but that can only be accomplished by allowing ourselves to acknowledge that racism and issues of race and bias are still present. Just as parents were informed of racism, in my opinion, children should be educated about what is going on in our Reyna 8 country about the racism against the African American race. The best way to solve a problem like this has always been through education. Although many parents believe that the racism will never end because we continue to bring it up, the future generations [the children] will end up never understanding the past racism if it fades away with time. Parents of the white race should consider communicating with their children about racism towards African Americans, but should keep in mind about any social media influence, such as the news, that the children will encounter. The children will hear about racism, but its best that it first comes from the parents in order to prevent any further incidents of it or negative promotion. Reyna 9 Work Cited Bree Ervin. â€Å"5 Reasons We All Need to Talk to Kids about Race in America. † August 2014. Web. Journal. Magazine Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: â€Å"The Danger of a Single Story. † TED Global. July 2009. Dr. April Harris-Britt. â€Å"Why White Parents Don’t Talk About Race. † October 7, 2013. Web. McBride, James. The Color of Water. New York. The Berkley Publishing Group. 2006 Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton Ph. D. Psychology Today: â€Å"Should we talk to young children about race? † April 2011. Article.