We Can Teach Children Not to Hate

“You’ve got to be taught… Before you are six Or seven Or eight To hate all the people Your relatives hate You’ve got to be Carefully Taught” These words are from a song in the Rogers and Hammerstein musical, South Pacific, written in 1949. In 1952, Oscar Hammerstein introduced the song during The National Conference of Christians and Jews Brotherhood Week. Here’s a clip from CriticalPast, an archive of historic footage. That was 70 years ago!  They were right then. Their words are right now. Children are not born hating other children. Toddlers on a playground approach any other toddler is a potential friend. A recent post in Facebook showed 2 preschool children, 1 Black, 1 White, who got identical haircuts so their teacher wouldn’t be able to tell them apart. Kids are not by nature racist. They have to be taught to hate. Or they can be carefully taught to hold onto their natural acceptance of others.  I am white. I don’t believe it is appropriate to ask the targets of racism to root out the hate and fear that run deep in the culture of white privilege. Carefully teaching white children to not hate, to be part of the solution instead of part of the problem, requires white commitment to actively support values of equality, compassion, and respect. The struggle for racial equality can’t be left to chance. It never could be.  A struggle that has been going on since white people set foot on American soil won’t end because of another round of protests. S...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Parenting Racism anti-racism Prejudice racial bias racial justice Stereotype Source Type: blogs