Racism in Kindergarten

[pumpkincat210]

My 5 year old kindergartener came home from school crying. She told me the other kids in her class were calling her white girl and some other racist comments i won't repeat.. you can guess them surely. Her teacher brushed it off. She is one of 3 white kids in her class. The others are hispanic and black. None are asian. She said her teacher brushed it off and wasn't paying attention to it. I couldn't believe that nothing was done, yet if it was the other way around someone would be going to see the principle. I don't know what to do other than to talk to her teacher, but i'm afraid that it won't do anything because of the demographic on the whole of the school. What do you do in a situation where your child is being bullied? Kindergarteners shouldn't even know about racism!

 

[Kuuipo]

We have lots of racism here in Hawaii. OMG.
On orientation they told us "Its okay to refer to white people as haoles but not f'ng haoles". People here describe each other by race. It's often a bit derogatory too. I think quite often it comes from self hate. We are all the same underneath. Really, you can't even tell what a person's real racial makeup is half the time, so to refer to someone by race only is so politically incorrect.

 

[pumpkincat210]

It's especially sad that one of the girls that called my daughter a name is black and my daughter loves her (the black girls) hair and is always wanting me to put her hair in braids, but i have no idea how to do that without it looking messy, lol. I am sad I have to teach her about racism at such a young age. I'm lucky in the fact that i've always lived in areas that were mostly white and there wasn't really any racism. The only time I have experienced racism is in my adult life when I moved to Houston which is primarily hispanic, then black and asian and finally white.

 

[Kuuipo]

Children learn racism from their parents initially. A mind isn't born with hate.

 

[pumpkincat210]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kuuipo Children learn racism from their parents initially. A mind isn't born with hate.

That is what I was afraid of. I'm sorry they feel they've been treated unequally (I'd love to hear these stories) I think alot of racism is mistaken for general rudeness or a simple mistake, which we all get.

I know that white people had slaves over 100 years ago and that was horrible! But i don't agree with having to pay reparations for what my idiot dead ancestors did.
I would never teach my children to hate another person because of the way they look. I didn't think i'd have to deal with this so soon, it caught me off guard.
I showed her on a map where different looking people came from. and told her she should be proud to be white, but dont' be haughty or conceited about it. Everyone should celebrate their race. None are better than the other but we have to like ourselves.

 

[pumpkincat210]

I guess I'm naive, but I don't think i've experienced outright racism. If someone from another race is rude to me I just think they are crabby people, i don't consider it racist.
My family doesn't have slave money left contrary to popular belief, finding a job is difficult, i dont' have health insurance, my 60 year old parents that still work help me out financially alot, I have to live paycheck to paycheck. I'm pretty on par with someone that does not have much money. Makeup and fashion are probably my only expenditures and i spend too much on them anyway. but I don't blame a race of people on it, that is just ridiculous to me.

 

[Girl about town]

Children are innocent and when they make racial comment i believe they don't do it out of hatred or ignorance like an adult would, they are merely repeating what they hear adults saying which is a shame, i would let the teachers know that you are concerned so that they can keep an eye out for it as bullying of any kind should not be tolerated. xx

 

[Ang9000]

I definately think you should talk to the teachers. Children at that age don't fully understand things they hear & repeat. But the teacher should have stopped them picking on your child.

 

[MACATTAK]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kuuipo Children learn racism from their parents initially. A mind isn't born with hate.

So true. I have an ex-friend whose daughter once told a child "You can't come to my house because you're black." My friend tells the story like it's something to be proud of and announce.

 

[SparklingWaves]

I remember Kindergarten. I remember these questions - "What's your name?" "Can you come play?"

Yes, kids can tell the difference if you are male, female, and look different. Ah, I confess - I had a crush on the boy that sat next to me.

Back to the topic- I didn't call a kid by anything other than their name really. That's all I knew and that really mattered.

If someone would have called me white, I would have probably said, "No. I not white." "I not paper." "I a girl." I would have associated colors with crayons too. I was not a crayon. I was a girl.

Today, I could careless if someone calls me white. But, I do agree with the 5 y/o in my head. I am not the color of paper or a crayon, but it's a way of trying to describe skin tone.

Personally, I think different breads are closer to my skin color. I think that I might be closer to the inside of French Bread. My best friend & I have discussed this. She thinks she is closer to Pumpernickel. We get hungry talking about it and went to the bakery to test out bread close to our skin color. The sandwiches are delicious.

Wait! Maybe, my skin tone is closer to a Krispy Kreme Glazed Donut. I don't know. I will have to investigate this closely. This calls for experiment. Hubby will have to see which donut is closer to his skin tone too. We will check this out.


I totally agree with Kuuipo.

 

[sinergy]

Thats sad that your little one has to experience that. I hope you do talk to the teachers about it, it isnt right, and there are too many times something like that can get out of hand. I didnt have to teach my kids anything about racism till we moved to north east texas where it is predominantly white. We are from San Antonio so there is a huge difference, and its only hrs away! Its sad that there is still so much ignorance in the world, but the only thing we can do is teach our own kids how to handle a situation like that positively and without the extra hate or aggression that some of these other kids are being brought up with. =(

 

[glam8babe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Girl about town Children are innocent and when they make racial comment i believe they don't do it out of hatred or ignorance like an adult would, they are merely repeating what they hear adults saying which is a shame, i would let the teachers know that you are concerned so that they can keep an eye out for it as bullying of any kind should not be tolerated. xx

i totally agree ^

you should deffo talk to her teachers because situations like these should never be ignored. I absolutly hate racism of any kind and it pisses me off to think that parents are encouraging their children to be racist.. or if not encouraging then saying racist things infront of their children which they can easily repeat

 

[Kuuipo]

I don't think children are so innocent. They learn things from parents and tv, and relatives. They assume because adults do it, it must be "correct". Children call names, and do hurtful things to each other. Children reject other children who are not like them because they have not been taught that we all are born equal but different-that each of us have gifts and shortcomings and its all ok. We have all seen child on child violence. The little girl in second grade in my apartment buiding got sent home early because she was beat up by the other kids for being a haole. Its not her fault, she did not do anything wrong. You are born with pigment or a lack of it, it has no bearing on the person you are inside. The third graders who beat her up were not indigenous to Hawaii either. Very ironic.

 

[runninggirl05]

i honestly think that alot of parents nowadays have lost the meaning of RESPECT for one another and their elders.. and as for this kindergarden teacher.. u def should not brush this off.. u should be teaching the kids whats right from wrong.. thats y we send our kids to school.. not to pick up things from kids that they have learned from home. especially this day and age people should not be talking things like you have been saying.. especially in the area u are in sure its texas but look at what changes are goin on in the states

a white woman and a black man running for president.. it just says people need to open their minds to new things becuase race is just a colour.. it does not command who you are and what your values are.. as an individual u grow up differently and take in differnet things but name calling and mindsets of this kind unfortunaly exist.. but its the teachings and morals we set for our kids.. and schools should def put a stop to this.

kids should not be coming home crying becuase of rasism.. its one thing when kids go through a phase where they say... i dont wanna play with u.. but its another when they say i dont wanna play with u becuase ur black asian or purple or green..

i really hope things change for you.. this stuff honestly hurts my feelings

 

[elegant-one]

The teacher should be told it is unacceptable & then the principal should be told as well to hold the teacher involved accountable. The parents of the children who bullied/said these things should be asked to come to the school for a meeting & told that this is unacceptable behavior and they need to deal with their children.

This not only happens in race/ethnic situations, but lately there seems to be a lot of christian bashing going on. This is just as immature & ignorant as it is to say racist comments, say that all muslims are terrorist, on & on. Yet continually comments are made against christians that are blanket ignorant & degrading comments. While there are elements in all races & religions that say & do unacceptable things, you simply cannot lump everyone in the same group. I would never criticize someone who doesn't believe in God & it is unacceptable & ignorant to slam someone who does just because it is something you don't believe. These statements are even made here on this board where you are not even supposed to criticize someones makeup. Its all wrong & always needs to be address.

 

[chocolategoddes]

i agree with pretty much everyone. it's funny how it seems it's okay for a "minority" like blacks,asians, or hispanics to make fun of the bigger group like whites. I think it's wrong either way.
these kids probably learned these terms from their parents or who ever they look up to.
i remember having a friend when i was very young who asked her grandmother if my family and I were black because we never bathed. it was innocent and she probably heard it from someone else.

 

[purrtykitty]

I think children repeat things they hear from their parents, older siblings, etc... ITA that you should speak to your little girl's teacher and I also agree that the principal should be involved. These parents' children need to know what happened so they can deal this...and perhaps reflect on their own behavior.

 

[flowerhead]

it's hard to tell if they were teasing in a malicious or gregarious way at that age. i think i'd have a chat with her teacher because it's hurtful either way.

 

[Beauty Mark]

Since I can gather what was said, I'd comment to the principal. The teacher was informed by your daughter, no? I don't know much about your district, but if you feel that it's not handling effectively by the principal and that you/your child will not be ostracized (you do have to pick your battles sometimes), the school board would be the next step.

It's very important to speak up against racism, no matter who it's aimed against. It's important for your daughter to not be ashamed of who she is, and it's important for those children to learn that racism is bad. As for your daughter, I would tell her some people are misinformed about others and believe that it's okay to be cruel towards them because of this misinformation. I think you could take it as a means of teaching her that you need to look at individuals, not larger groups.

It's sad but doesn't surprise me. I was called a chink in elementary school from a young age.

 

[SparklingWaves]

Here is a video addressing bullingl. You may not agree with all of the advice or this man's background, but I think he makes some good points. The video simple and to the point.

YouTube - Bullying

If you would like additional information about children around five years of age, I would be happy to provide that to you too from my pediatric books. It isn't about bullying. It's just about things children normally do around that age.