Talking to your kids about race

Talking to your kids about race

BLACK LIVES MATTERPROTESTS... MERGED WITHJUNETEENTH CELEBRATIONS LASTMONTH.

THAT'S PROBABLYSPARKED A LOT OFCONVERSATIONS WITH YOURFRIENDS AND FAMILY..

BUTTHERE IS ONE GROUP... WHOMIGHT BE EXPERIENCING ALL OFTHIS FOR THEFIRST TIME.I'M TALKING ABOUT CHILDREN.TONIGHT..

TWO WORKS FORYOU'S TRAVIS GUILLORY...STARTS A TWO-PARTCONVERSATION WITH A DIVERSEGROUP OF PARENTS... ABOUTHOW TO TALK TO YOUR KIDSABOUT RACE..

VIEWERDISCRETION IS ADVISED.FIVE PARENTS WITH A WIDERANGE OF FAMILY MAKEUP...7:53:09 "Hi.

My name isKelli McCloud-Shingen.

I amAfrican American.

Mychildren are biracial."7:53:54 "I'm Jo Lein.

I am awhite mom to some whitechildren." 7:54:40 "Hi.

Myname is Lamar Guillory.

I'mAfrican American and my kidsare African American."7:54:14 "Hi.

My name isAutumn Worten.

I am whiteand Native American and mydaughter is white, NativeAmerican, and black."7:53:40 "I am Sondra Slade.I am identifying as AfricanAmerican, black.

My childrenare AfricanAmerican." ALL WITH VERYDIFFERENCE EXPERIENCESRAISING THEIR CHILDREN IN ATIME WHEN RACE..

SKINCOLOR..

IS A HOT BUTTONISSUE.

TRAVIS: When did yourchild start noticing therewere other people thatlooked different from them?And how did you handle that?Sondra Slade / AfricanAmerican mother to AfricanAmerican children 7:58:26-43"He was the only AfricanAmerican kid in his class.He was 6, and two of thekids didn't want to playwith him.

So, we had to havethe conversation of whyyou're different, why theymay see you as different,why you should loveeverybody and still respecteverybody." 7:58:54-13Autumn Worten / White motherto biracial daughter "Mydaughter was in pre-k, soshe was 4.

A boy had come upto her and said he didn'twant to play with herbecause her skin was brown.So,that really didn't afford methe opportunity to share itwith her in a way that Iwanted to; it really helpedus force the conversation atthat point because she had alot of questions and shedidn't understand." 1:14:24"They notice a difference incolor.

They're noticingdifferences between male andfemale." LEONARD SHEPHERD ISA PROFESSIONAL THERAPIST.Leonard Shepherd /Professional Counselor "Itis normal for them to wantto be with groupsthat they find are like themat those ages." Jo Lein /White mother to whitechildren 8:01:42-53 "(We)started having conversationsabout differences in skincolor when she was as earlyas two or three because Iknew she would go to schoolwith kids that didn't looklike her." TRAVIS: Shouldparents initiate those kindsof conversations or shouldthey wait and see how thechild deals with it and ifthey come to the parent?8:04:03-08 "I think as anAfrican American parent, Idon't have the luxury towait for an opportunity totalk." Lamar Guillory /African American father toAfrican American sons8:03:20-31 "You have to beintentional because theprobability, as an AfricanAmerican dad and kids, thatyou're going to facesomething like that ifyou're not in an all blackenvironment is very high."8:06:56-16 "There aremoments where she's like, 'Iwish my hair was straightlike my friends or it'seasier to have straight hairor whatever the case maybe.

Those moments kind ofhurt for me as a parentbecause I want her toembrace her beauty.

But Ithink it's important to havea mix of intentionality andletting them come to you.""It is very important forparents to prepare the childbefore they are faced with atraumatic situation, wherethey have to comequestioning - if they comequestioning at all." KelliMcLoud-Schingen / AfricanAmerican mother to biracialchildren 8:07:40-48 "Havingbiracial children, theconversations almost happenearlier anyway becausethey're living in ahousehold with two parentsthat don't look like eachother." 8:09:00-05, 18-31"We would allow them to getto a place where they wouldfind their own identity andmake sense of it becauseidentity is very personal ..

.

The things that we wereintentional about weremaking sure my daughter hadbrown dolls.

I made surethat the movies that we sawwere diverse movies.

I madesure that the fairytalesthat we brought in also hadCinderella who was a browngirl." TRAVIS: Teachingyour kids not to see color -it's kind of specious.Because a lot of people say,'I don't see color' and theymean that as a good thing.Is that a good thing to notsee color and why would youwant to see color?

LamarGuillory / African Americanfather to African Americansons U+2028 8:11:17-34U+2028"Our society, in the wayit's set up, is going toforce you to check a box."Kelli McLoud-Schingen /African American mother tobiracial childrenU+20288:13:47..

8:13:56U+2028 "Weknow that kids see color .

..

When they draw us all, I'malways brown.

They neverdraw me white.

They neverdraw me pink.

They neverdraw me orange.

They draw meas a brownperson."U+2028U+2028 LeonardShepherd / ProfessionalCounselorU+20281:18:10-19-32 "Then youraise up a child that willinteract with otherindividuals on the premisethat 'I don't see you.

Whatmakes you unique and whatmakes you difference is notimportant.'

We don't reallylearn to appreciate oneanother.'"U+2028 1:33:17-30"To say to a child, 'I don'tsee color.'

You want to stayaway from things like thatbecause it kind of justdismisses it a little bit.They see it.

And that's whywe need to talk aboutit."U+2028U+20288:14:13-41U+2028 "Whatmatters is what informationthey hold around that color.What experiences do theyhold around that color?

Whathas somebody told them aboutthat color?

Because they seethe color, right?

That'sjust a fact.

But how theyexperience it is going to bethe most important thing.So, we as parents, have tobe intentional to make surethat the experiences theyhave around certain peopleor groups of people arepositive ones." Jo Lein /White mom to white children8:13:30 U+2028 "(We need to)recognize that just becauseyou had one experience withone black person doesn'tmean that that is all blackpeople.

And that needs to beactively fought against,especially from whitepeople." TRAVIS AT MOW=TOMORROW MORNING ON 2 WORKSFOR YOU TODAY... THECONVERSATION GETS HEAVIER.WATCH TO FIND OUT WHATHAPPENS WHEN A WHITESIX-YEAR-OLD SAYS SHE ONLYWANTS A WHITE BABY..

BECAUSESHE THINKS WHITE SKIN ISPRETTIER.

THE PARENTS'REACTION TOMORROW MORNING...AS WE WORK TO BECOMEOKLAHOMA TOGETHER.

TRAVISGUILLORY, 2 WORKS FOR YOU.COMING UP--- WE'LL HEAR