Are children race blind?
Posted: Thu Jun 17, 2004 3:48 pm
I went to the mall with my 5 year old son yesterday after a play date with his friend Hannah. We were in a book store just looking around. A little girl who was African American started talking to my son. Anyway the two of them got along really well and there were tears when we had to leave the store. My son told me in the car "Mommy my new friend looks just like my old friend Hannah, except Hannah has different hair" (Hannah has very blond hair and big blue eyes!!!!
I think it is so wonderful that the only difference my son saw between the two girls was the hair styles... he seemed totally not to notice the skin color. This put such a smile on my face because I grew up in apartheid where skin color was the first thing brought to your attention!!!
I spoke to a couple of my friends about this who have kids who go to school with all color of kids. (When I went to school it was not racially integrated, and one of the reasons I did not want my children growing up in South Africa) Most of the moms said that there young children where totally color blind with regards to race, and that hair was the most common way they distinguished one kid from another, that and "the kid with the lazer light shoes"!
Oh how I pray my children's minds will not be tarnished by modern day prejudices!
I think it is so wonderful that the only difference my son saw between the two girls was the hair styles... he seemed totally not to notice the skin color. This put such a smile on my face because I grew up in apartheid where skin color was the first thing brought to your attention!!!
I spoke to a couple of my friends about this who have kids who go to school with all color of kids. (When I went to school it was not racially integrated, and one of the reasons I did not want my children growing up in South Africa) Most of the moms said that there young children where totally color blind with regards to race, and that hair was the most common way they distinguished one kid from another, that and "the kid with the lazer light shoes"!
Oh how I pray my children's minds will not be tarnished by modern day prejudices!