If you have the privilege to never have felt the sting of oppression or discrimination because of your race, then you have the important task of understanding why. This comes from understanding American history, not just the whitewashed history we learned in middle school but the hard truths of our nation's creation. The words written in the Declaration of Independence weren't written for all people. The words "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness" were never meant for every American, specifically Black Americans. The truth is that America and all of the institutions that make it run were created by and for white people, specifically white men. Our systems were designed to keep white people in power by purposefully denying Black people many basic needs for survival and the ability to thrive, including money, health care, the right to vote, and freedom.
Acknowledging my white privilege is the first thing I had to do when I learned this systemic layer of racism, and I didn't learn it until I was out of high school. Everything I thought I knew about slavery, segregation, and the civil rights movement was through a lens of whiteness. I understood that racism is bad and that treating other people differently or poorly because of their skin color wasn't cool, but I didn't know that simply being kind wasn't going to make life better or easier for Black people.
Parents and educators have a pressing obligation to do more than teach kindness and the dangerous notion of "colorblindness" when it comes to talking about race and racism. Part of making reparations is telling the truth and having uncomfortable conversations when we don't want to. We can't create alternative narratives or erase Black history — which is American history, after all — to coddle our white fragility. And if that makes you uncomfortable, please ask yourself why. I hope you stick around to keep learning.
The first thing we need to recognize is that our history books were written through a white perspective and often with a white savior industrial complex, meaning a white person (teacher, leader, authority) is romanticized for saving the day. Think Hilary Swank in Freedom Writers or Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird. Or even Abraham Lincoln. The dude had flawed and contradictory views on slavery<span style="font-weight: 400;">; emancipation was a political move based on military policy, not necessarily because of compassion.
White folks also tend to omit crimes of our white supremacist ancestors. I was 40 years old when I finally learned about Juneteenth, which is celebrated — and should be — because it took another two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed for slaves in Texas to be freed. Just this year, I learned about the mass killing of Black populations in the Tulsa, Oklahoma, massacre in 1921 and then again in Rosewood, Florida, in 1923.
Not only are these key examinations of our history important, but we need to talk about ongoing and current topics like the ongoing systemic racism and implicit biases happening in our justice systems, child welfare systems, and job forces. There is too much nuance in race relationships to not get into how and why Black people are still disproportionately more likely to live in poverty, be incarcerated, die by the hands of police officers, and be hit the hardest by COVID-19.
But we also need to diversify what we show to our kids and provide positive representation of Black people — and there are plenty! Parents and educators need to provide these stories of resiliency, beauty, and pride written and produced by Black people. Movies, podcasts, and books are a great way to introduce topics about race, culture, and history.
And instead of white saviors, our white kids need to learn how to be allies. Take time to talk about and celebrate the white and Black civil rights leaders who worked and continue to work together to move toward a more equitable and safe society for Black people. We need to amplify Black voices, not speak over or for them.
Parents and teachers should absolutely teach kindness, but they need to go out of their way to teach kids that there is so much more to ending racism than being nice. That starts with reframing what we were taught about American history. This should blend into ongoing conversations and exposure to the injustices happening to Black folks while highlighting the beauty and strength visible in the everyday lives of Black Americans.
