January 16, 2012

"I have a dream..."

I'm just a smidge over 30, so I never experienced segregation. I know slavery from textbooks. But, I did grow up in a small town in Texas. There were railroad tracks that separated the races. For the most part, there still are.

I'm ashamed to say that I did grow up thinking there was a difference between races and that mine was superior. I was never told this, but the society I grew up in taught it to me.

As I got older and experienced the world on a grander scale I realized how misguided I was. Being black, or white, or Hispanic doesn't make your IQ higher or lower... Not anymore than having a big nose or being overweight does.

I would love to say that I'm raising my children to be blind of all differences. To not notice skin color, or weight, or wealth, or material things. But, I think that's impossible. Kids notice differences.

I do pray that my examples teach my children that these differences don't make a person who they are, they are just a small piece of how God created them.



And, I think they get it. I just pray the world doesn't taint it. Because as much as I would like to believe that the world has changed, it hasn't. Having Bryson in our home and treating him the same way I do my sons garners looks and comments. Some good, some I'd like to sock a person in the face for.



Yep, these guys see the differences, but they think they're cool. Sometimes they think they're too cool... Holden is currently a little miffed that God chose not to "make him out of chocolate too."



" I have a dream that one day... little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers." Martin Luther King, Jr.

MLK had a dream, mine's the same, or maybe even bigger. I want others to see the love these guys have for each other and not feel the need to comment on it. I want it to be accepted as the norm.

And I pray this dream becomes a reality in my kids' lifetimes.

For more information on talking to your kids about racial differences, I highly suggest this post written by a mother of four, two of which happen to be a different color than her.

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