A heavy heart
It's been an emotional day, for two completely disparate reasons.
First, hug your children a little tighter tonight, because you never know when it will be your last opportunity. Friends of ours lost their daughter over the weekend, and my heart breaks for them. Humans were not created to have to endure death; it is antithetical to our very nature. It is so very wrong.
Second, if you are a white parent, especially if you are a white parent in a place where diversity is low, please, please, please, expose your children to other types of people. A grade school child when confronted with a natural hair style of an African-American woman should never feel shock and surprise. Instead it should be just a fact of life. As I witnessed this, my heart broke over the beautiful girls and women in my life who would've been hurt by being told their hair is weird. Yes, I said something, don't worry, but really, it is not the child's fault for having no exposure.
I lived in a diverse community for so long that it still surprises me at how little contact many people here have with people of color. I do worry about my children living in such a monochromatic area. As a result, I find I am far more purposeful in choosing books and movies for them which provide a more balanced view of life.
Oh, we live in such an imperfect world. It makes my heart heavy for the grieving and injustice which happens on a daily basis.
First, hug your children a little tighter tonight, because you never know when it will be your last opportunity. Friends of ours lost their daughter over the weekend, and my heart breaks for them. Humans were not created to have to endure death; it is antithetical to our very nature. It is so very wrong.
Second, if you are a white parent, especially if you are a white parent in a place where diversity is low, please, please, please, expose your children to other types of people. A grade school child when confronted with a natural hair style of an African-American woman should never feel shock and surprise. Instead it should be just a fact of life. As I witnessed this, my heart broke over the beautiful girls and women in my life who would've been hurt by being told their hair is weird. Yes, I said something, don't worry, but really, it is not the child's fault for having no exposure.
I lived in a diverse community for so long that it still surprises me at how little contact many people here have with people of color. I do worry about my children living in such a monochromatic area. As a result, I find I am far more purposeful in choosing books and movies for them which provide a more balanced view of life.
Oh, we live in such an imperfect world. It makes my heart heavy for the grieving and injustice which happens on a daily basis.
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