Racial Injustice and Unrest Right Now

Dear Friends,

I think it would be cowardly of me not to address the unrest in our country at this time, which is symptomatic of our troubled past and troubling present as a nation.  I have no words of wisdom to offer, only a commitment to be part of the solution to the shame of racial injustice in America.

As regards our children, it is important to have conversations about fairness, equality, diversity and prejudice during these "formative" years: the First Plane of Development, from birth to age 6 and then beyond and into the Second, Third and Fourth Planes.  We make it a practice at PhMS to tell true stories and read children's books about the civil rights struggle, about the plight of enslaved persons in the US and in other places as we learn about world history and geography. During those same studies we learn of the challenges that history has presented and the triumph of the human spirit witnessed in all races, religions and walks of life.  We share stories about historic persons of all races and events pertaining to empiricism and the longing for freedom.  We relish the works of indigenous poets, authors and artists of the countries we study. We take care that our library represents a rainbow of experiences offering both "windows" and "mirrors" for all of our children to see. They see their own culture(s) reflected as well as glimpses into lives unlike their own.

I tell you this not to congratulate ourselves for all we have done to combat prejudice and celebrate differences. That would be grossly tone-deaf when there is clearly so much more to be done; merely the first step of this journey has been taken, inspired by the most recent martyrdoms of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and the dangerously ridiculous harassment of birdwatcher Christian Cooper. I tell of some of what we do with our charges to illustrate that difficult subjects can and should be addressed with pre-school-age children.  Parents have their own wisdom regarding what they wish to share about racial inequality and at this age, the values you impart become part of the child's world-view and character.  Our public library has many age-appropriate books to support your message.  Even Pinterest has your back.

I encourage you to read a post just one or two prior to this entitled "What Do We Tell the Kids?" which I wrote to aid parents in discussing the pandemic, but is meant to be helpful regardless of  difficult subject matter.  I strongly, strongly discourage, however, sharing with young children the current images of violence being perpetrated either by law enforcement or by looters and rioters.  These images are too immediate and current to be safely processed by the immature mind. We are all having trouble ourselves, are we not?  Pathological levels of stress and anxiety, bad dreams and fitful sleep and the absorption of prejudice could easily result.  Keep the news off when the children are around.  They truly cannot handle it in that raw form.  It must be thoughtfully distilled to a child-friendly potency.  Rather, print an image of unity: cops kneeling beside protesters, hugs, listening, peaceful marching, and hang it on the fridge.  Evil has awakened our collective and overdue outrage, but only goodness and love will move us forward. 

In Peace,
Doni