05/31/2020
I asked Julian this morning, “how early is it appropriate to talk to our kids about racism? I don’t want to scare them with all of the terrible things that go on in this world.” His response struck every particle in my being. He said, “Well, do you think African Americans have to have these conversations with their 4 year olds?”
The answer is absolutely yes, and it’s horrific. The fact that I even feel like I get to “decide” when a good time to bring racism up in my home is an example of a privilege I have just because I am white. Ugh I hate it. I don’t know why we have to live like this but I know I want it to stop. I grabbed all of our babies and brought them into the kitchen.. the girls and I talked about their different hair colors, eye colors, and skin colors and how they are all special to us. We talked about how we get to love all kinds of people in this world because God made each an every one. I told them how sometimes people are treated mean just because of the color of their skin, we talked about how that is not okay and it causes hurt. God made people different because He is an artist, he is a creator. An artist wouldn’t paint the exact same picture over and over again, that would be boring and uninspired. An artist create thousands of new works, plays with different mediums and finds joy in it all. FINDS JOY IN IT ALL. God finds joy in every single color of skin he has made- we are all his art. When did WE start getting to decided one was better than another? When did we start deciding that skin color was more important than the condition of our hearts? God judges our hearts because he gave our hearts a free will. A free will to choose Him, to choose love and to love people. He created our skin just He as he wanted it, we didn’t get to choose it because He does not judge us on it. To Him, the way we look is already a perfectly wonderful unique creation.
I typically shy away from anything political, controversial, or anything that could offend anyone. I do this because I’m so worried I’m going to say it wrong and get yelled at or shamed. But this isn’t political and it’s shouldn’t be controversial. OUR WORLD IS NOT OKAY RIGHT NOW. (Cont. in comment