Racism in Children

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For my project I was originally going to write a simple children’s book to raise awareness about racism and differences in ethnicities in young children. This idea did not pan out to my what I wanted so I decided to show a short educational video clip about racism awareness in children to my nieces and nephews. I believe if awareness were taught at a young age, racism would not be such a problem when children are older.
In Women’s studies, I’ve learned of many systems of inequalities and privilege among classes. I feel if awareness is brought to children to not judge, then it could affect many men and women’s lives in the future and eliminate racism and stereotypes. In this day and age in American culture and society, raising a generation to support equality is crucial in our society’s transition into the future.
During my research on ways to raise awareness in children about racism and inequality and how children view their peers, I found a interesting website with an abundant amount of information on how to address a child when he or she questions society’s views on race and/or gets called a derogatory term or vice versa. This I found so helpful for the future for my daughter. “We can choose to actively influence our children’s attitudes” (Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund, 1995, p. 1). Children see the world through their parents, teachers, and mentors lives. Whether or not a person knows it, a child imitates actions made by authority figures in their lives, even if these actions are subconscience to that person.
Another interesting phenomenon I found in my research was that children have a subconscious bias that their own race is more superior than any other. Whether this is taught or innate is unknown. ...

... middle of paper ...

...r view of every race, religion, and ethnicity in America and teaching these children to not be racist or unequal towards others will give America a brighter future and even those children a brighter future. Being able to communicate and work sophisicateively with different individuals is a necessity in their work lives to succeed.

Works Cited

• Canadian Ethnic Studies. 2008, Vol. 40 Issue 1, p101-124. 24p.
.
• Cooper, A. (Director). (2012). Kids on Race: The Hidden Picture [Documentary] : CNN.

• Poussaint, Alvin. Talking to Our Children About Racism and Diversity. Comp. William Beardslee. Www.Civilrights.org. Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund, 1995. Web. 19 Sept. 2013. .
Video used in presentation can be found at this link:
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OKgUdQF-Fg

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