Ask ARP: Are we teaching the history of slavery too early?
Dear Anti-Racist Parent,
I am a white parent and have two sons (ages 6 and 8). I am committed to doing all I can to raise them in an anti-racist environment. Education is critical to this goal.
However, I have been disturbed by how both of my son’s pre-school teachers began teaching the history of slavery when they were very young (3 years old). I believe this is too large and important a topic to be condensed down to a few soundbites during Black History Month.
It also raises a disturbing question: as we teach the children that we are all equal, can a 3 year old process the information that African Americans were once oppressed? I fear that the potential for a misunderstood message is very high here, and that it plants the idea in their heads that discrimination once was acceptable.
Can’t we wait until the children are more able to cognitively process the concepts correctly? I’m interested to know if any educators have researched this, or if any other parents have asked pre-school teachers about this issue.
From KS in Illinois
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Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of 
Robin G. wrote:
I can’t speak from the perspective of parents or educators, but as someone who was educated in such a fashion, I can say that teaching the history of racial tension at a young age is something that can backfire if not done extremely competently.
The thing you have to watch out for, I think, is creating the cognitive connection that racism=slavery. Or racism=KKK. The message I received from this (I think somewhat intentionally, now that I understand how very bigoted my schools were) was, “Racism was a terrible terrible thing, but now that slavery is over and white people don’t lynch blacks any more, racism is finished. Isn’t that great?” I’m sorry to say that growing up in a homogeneous suburb, it took until college for me to learn how very wrong I was.
This is no way means we shouldn’t be teaching kids about the history of racial tensions in this country. It just means that this pitfall needs to be carefully guarded against.
My two cents.
Posted 29 Feb 2008 at 8:34 am ¶
Kandee wrote:
I agree with Robin. My mom was just telling me of her friend who has a bi-racial grandchild. The kids at school decided to play ’slave’ and guess who was the slave? Of course her. I guess they thought they’d re-enact some scenes from what they learned, completely missing the point (or not). Wasn’t too pretty.
Posted 29 Feb 2008 at 11:09 am ¶
Donna wrote:
Robin - I never thought about it that way but I completely agree that that is how it’s presented in schools.
Posted 29 Feb 2008 at 11:12 am ¶
justamom wrote:
I am the white mom of four black daughters. Two of them (ages 8 and 10) are in elementary school. At various times over the past years during Black History Month they have been given erroneous and harmful information about African Americans, become the target of uncomfortable attention in class, and been frightened by the information presented. My second grader was taken with her class to watch a movie about Rosa Parks with the sixth grade class this year. The movie contained scenes of the KKK acting violently: threatening to harm and yelling at black people. She was, of course, frightened by this. She has been presented with similar information about how slaves were treated and the result is that she fears white people to some extent. She even dreamed about the images she had been shown with herself as the target of the actions.
I always go to the schools and talk with the teachers, principals, counselors, etc. when something like this happens. They apologize, but the damage is done.
The presentation of material is often mis-handled and the content may be inaccurate, erroneous, or age inappropriate. I have come to the conclusion that I will visit with each of my daughter’s teachers PRIOR to February and talk about what they plan to present/talk about during the month.
Posted 29 Feb 2008 at 12:34 pm ¶
Lyonside wrote:
Forgive people who’ve read this from me before (I know broken records, even when they’re mine)…
My mom is a Head Start preschool teacher teaching almost-all minority (most recently, 100% African-American - in the past, it was a more diverse classroom) mostly lower-income kids in Philly.
I think she’d agree that 3, 4, and 5 year olds are too young for ALL of slavery’s horrors. At that age, you want to emphasize the diversity angle, regardless of classroom or neighborhood makeup. The lessons should be that people have different hair or skin color, or eat different foods at home, or speak different languages, and that’s a cool thing.
But when you get to the older ages, you do need to address it, and soon. Pretty much as soon as you start teaching American history (Of course, most schools start with the American myths), you need to talk about the less pretty parts as wrong.
Posted 01 Mar 2008 at 12:08 pm ¶
Lyonside wrote:
That said, I saw most of “Roots” when I was about 5. I had children’s books about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad, which I read often. And I had an unholy fascination with the idea of poisoned food.
Ask me how I played house! Seriously.
Posted 01 Mar 2008 at 12:10 pm ¶
ktichenchick wrote:
Pre-school is absolutely inappropriate. Phychologically & socially children don’t even comprehend differences in regards to race yet, much less racists actions. This type of teaching, however well-intentioned, may do more harm than good.
I suggest reading Marguarite Wright’s (sp?) book “I’m Chocolate, You’re Vanilla; Raising Healthy Black and Bi-Racial Children in a Race-Concious World”. There are wonderful chapters on how to deal with racial issues for each developmental stage of childhood. She also has a great chapter for educators, to pass along for your child’s teacher(s).
Posted 01 Mar 2008 at 4:16 pm ¶
Nancy Perez wrote:
I also recommend the book “I”m Chocolate, You’re Vanilla”, as well. I have found it helpful as the parent of two black children(age 7, twins!). I can relate to justamom’s concern about her children seeing pictures of white people yelling at little black children. I have rented the Ruby Bridges film several times and watched it with my children, as well as the film Selma, Lord, Selma(a somewhat fictionalized account of the Selma, Alabama action which was a turning point in the Civil Rights Movement.
However, I try not to shield my children too much. The reality is nasty white people are out there, and we have already encountered quite a few in our small suburb! What I long for and try to find is the images of powerful young children (like Ruby Bridges) who face the oppression with lifted head and keep on marching. I try to focus on the empowering message in films like these and that fact that it was a group of people working together from many different races that moved the culture forward and made things improve. I am disappointed and appalled however when I see the Civil Rights movement presented as something that white people did for blacks!
Perhaps when our children dream about being pursued or the target of whites it is because they are also sensitive to the cultural Zeitgist. Fact is, non white people are a target and they are pursued. Our children must learn to behave, protect themselves and pass in a hostile world. As a parent of a black son I worry about how he will find his way in the world and whether he will be able to avoid the incarceration and lowered life expectations that so many of his brothers experience.
Posted 01 Mar 2008 at 11:30 pm ¶
Atena wrote:
I don’t think bringing up the topic is a problem IF it is done in a way that it AGE APPROPRIATE. You just have to meet them where they are.
It’s unnecessary to discuss the horrors of slavery. That doesn’t mean you can’t talk about it at all, or acknowledge that it ever happened. There’s nothing wrong with saying “A long time ago, some people were treated very badly because they were different. It’s important that we be kind to other people and make sure everyone is treated fairly.” It’s simple, it’s true, and it acknowledges the history in a way that makes since to a young child in the here-and-now.
I have to respectfully disagree with kitchenchick - children actually begin to absorb differences and (more importantly) how their caretakers respond to those differences as early as 2 years old. While Wright’s book I’m Chocolate, You’re Vanilla, may contain some useful strategies for handling some situations, her analysis of children’s capacity to understand differences is flawed at best. It *doesn’t* matter if a child can comprehend the concept of ‘racism.’ What *does* matter is that children at the ages of 2, 3 and 4 can start to exhibit negative attitudes about children who they perceive as different. This is not racism per se, but it is the foundation of prejudice.
It’s not a pretty idea, but kids don’t have to have full comprehension of a concept to have it sneak into their still-being-built brains and set up camp.
If you’re looking for actual educational strategies, try the Teaching Tolerance website - one of my favorite resources (http://www.tolerance.org/teach/) or the works of Louise Derman-Sparks, including the Anti-Bias Curriculum.
Posted 02 Mar 2008 at 2:26 am ¶
KC wrote:
I’m going to pick up Wright’s book right away — it sounds perfect. My son came home from preschool on the day they learned about Martin Luther King, and told me that he learned the following:
1. MLK was a great man.
2. MLK had brown skin like he does.
3. Some bad people shot MLK.
Not exactly the message I was hoping for. I spoke to the teacher (who was horrified that that’s the message that came home…not her intention either), and the following year, she changed the curriculum entirely.
Posted 02 Mar 2008 at 7:16 pm ¶
Carmen Van Kerckhove wrote:
Hey folks, just wanted to direct you to an older post where the comments section contained some in-depth discussion of the book I’m Chocolate, You’re Vanilla by Marguerite A. Wright.
Posted 03 Mar 2008 at 8:49 am ¶
Lyonside wrote:
>Not exactly the message I was hoping for.
KC, what else were you looking for? And remember too that preschoolers often pick up only the bare bones of a lesson or the parts that hold their attention the most. The teacher may have said a lot more.
>Phychologically & socially children don’t even comprehend differences in regards to race yet,
KitchenChick, tell that to the preschoolers who made me the Daily Inquisition, asking what I was, whether I was Asian, if I wasn’t Asian then what was I, etc. ad nauseum. They didn’t understand the word biracial, but their worldview definitely had the idea of white, black, and Asian, and I didn’t fit their worldview. They certainly knew white (themselves) from non-white (myself and maybe 2 other kids), and they could differentiate myself from the other 2.
Posted 03 Mar 2008 at 10:17 am ¶
Ms. Four wrote:
–
1. MLK was a great man.
2. MLK had brown skin like he does.
3. Some bad people shot MLK.
–
#1 and #2 are pretty much what my preschoolers know about MLK right now. We haven’t gotten into #3.
But I’m also wondering what the big problem is with this.
Posted 03 Mar 2008 at 1:00 pm ¶
Lyonside wrote:
>#1 and #2 are pretty much what my preschoolers know about MLK right now. We haven’t gotten into #3.
Because of the fascination with guns at this age, my mom has to underemphasize this with her kids - she focuses on how sad and wrong it was that MLK was taken away, rather than the guns.
Unfortunately, some of these kids come from some pretty harsh environments where guns are not just seen on TV.
Posted 03 Mar 2008 at 2:35 pm ¶
BMS wrote:
I tend to let my kids pull me where they want to go as far as learning history. So we read a kids’ book about Ruby Bridges, because my son (who was 5 at the time) saw it on display at the library during Black History Month and was curious. We read a book about Cesar Chavez for the same reason - saw it at the library, they thought it looked interesting. But I find that if I try to force them to learn something ‘for their own good’, they see right through me, and get turned off. I would rather my preschool teachers spend time teaching them to share, learn their letters, and other such things, and leave history for either when they are old enough to appreciate it, or until they want to know.
Posted 04 Mar 2008 at 10:15 pm ¶
laura wrote:
regarding the “MLK lesson”, it could imply causation. And because MLK was shot because he had brown skin, the child might be afraid of being shot because of his skin color (not that it doesn’t happen, but 5 year olds shouldn’t worry about that)
Just because the teacher didn’t teach it that doesn’t mean the kids won’t take it that way. You’re not going to expect kids to pick up the whole lesson, but the way a teacher emphasizes different aspects changes how children take those messages i.e. the people who shot MLK did so because they were bad people who didn’t like his message, NOT the people who shot MLK did so because he had brown skin.
Children will pick up on weird things, not necessarily the way adults do. My baby cousin’s parents became concerned when he developed a fear/dislike of black people, especially men. His father (who is black) was the disciplinarian whereas his mother (who is white) was much more lenient. He picked up on the racial differences between his parents at a young age. (They redistributed those responsibilities, and from what I know, the problem has gone away.)
Posted 04 Mar 2008 at 11:50 pm ¶
Kourtney wrote:
I teach prekindergarten. I believe that if children are showing interest in anything it is our job then to guide them.
I think children at this age are beginning to see that they are different. Most of the classrooms in the preschool where I work begin each school year with a unit on “all about me”, then a “family or community unit” which each touch a bit on diversity.
I think that it is important to introduce concepts of diversity and multiculturalism to children. There are so many wonderful books for children of all ages that will help with this. “It’s ok to be different” by Todd Parr touches on many kinds of differences from having two moms to hair color to eating mac & cheese in the bath tub.
Most teachers must take multicultural and diversity classes which help them in dealing with it in the classroom. And hopefully teachers who have been teaching for years will revisist and read up on new ideas and ways of bringng that into the classroom.
I do think the concept of slavery is too big of an idea for children at the preschool level and the more important thing would be to teach equality and that differences whether that be eye color, skin color or even color or clothing is normal.
Posted 05 Mar 2008 at 3:07 pm ¶
Anna's Mom wrote:
I am reading the Little House on the Prairie books with my just 4 year old. She is quite able to understand and have discussions about the different attitudes that characters in the book have toward Indians, as well as why the US Government was wrong to remove them from their lands. However, I do not want that discussion happening, at her age, in an environment where I’m not present to express my values and make sure she understands what she’s learning. To me, that’s the key at this age - that difficult or disturbing information is mediated through her trusted parents.
Posted 10 Mar 2008 at 8:05 pm ¶
Lyonside wrote:
>To me, that’s the key at this age - that difficult or disturbing information is mediated through her trusted parents.
But Anna’s Mom, not every parent is able and willing to do this. Too many either don’t think it matters, or think that by not talking about it you can make the problems (past and present) go away.
In which case it is up to the teachers to take up the slack.
Posted 11 Mar 2008 at 9:04 am ¶
h sofia wrote:
As others have said or alluded to here, a 3 yr old cannot understand the concept of “slavery” (even if they were living as slaves themselves), but they can recognize differences in treatment. They can operate on the level of what seems fair, unfair, what hurts their feelings, restrictions and liberties. These things need to be concrete. And I wouldn’t suggest any preschool teacher discuss or re-enact the horrors of slavery in order to make them tangible to a 3 or 4 year old. So yes, stick with things like talking about ways in which people are different, affirm these differences, and encourage children to assert their own rights, and to protect the rights of their peers.
Posted 14 Mar 2008 at 2:35 pm ¶
shelli wrote:
Hi,
My son is 6, white and the only white child in his class. I have to say that the way that our public schools is teaching black history makes me wonder. Until this year, he knew that there were differences in how people looked, but he didn’t name it. What he knew was that what made people special are the things that they do and how they behave toward him. After February this year he now thinks that it is necessary to point out a person’s color and that what makes African Americans special is that they are black. I really think that they are missing the boat when it comes to teaching that all people are special because we are all human and that there are amazing people who have overcome horrendous conditions and acted in admirable ways for human rights. In addition he is now recognized as the “different” one in the classroom and has lost friends who now tell him that they don’t want to be his friend because he is white.
I just wonder if we are instilling racism in our children by making a point to observe the differences in our skin color.
Posted 24 Mar 2008 at 12:30 pm ¶
Lyonside wrote:
>I just wonder if we are instilling racism in our children by making a point to observe the differences in our skin color.
Observing differences in skin color is not instilling racism, By your own admission, your son “knew that there were differences in how people looked, but he didn’t name it.”
I do think, however, that your son’s teacher failed to hammer home the real message, if that is what he and his classmates are taking home with them.
I think the option is NOT to avoid teaching, but to look at what we’re teaching, especially to young kids, and to not start and stop teaching when we tear a page off the monthly calendar. If the teacher had checked in with the students after February, he/she should have been able to step in and correct the miscommunications that are all too common with kids at this age.
BTW - have you brought up these concerns with the teacher?
Posted 24 Mar 2008 at 2:56 pm ¶
h sofia wrote:
Raising a person to be “color blind” is not the answer. I wouldn’t suggest a parent raise their child “gender blind,” either. It’s important as a parent to be informed oneself, and process some of these things to help our children be able to assess what is happening around them, and relate to people as they are. For many people, their race *is* important to their identity, so just ignoring that will cause some problems.
Posted 25 Mar 2008 at 12:24 pm ¶