Comments on Sister Scholar: Digitally United for a Day

AT what age do we start to recognize racial (and o...

2009-11-12T16:35:47.668-08:00

AT what age do we start to recognize racial (and other) differences and categorize people based on these? I'm curious because as the parent of three (14, 9 and 5) I really don't see it happening until kids get exposed to "adult" views. All my kids developed friendships with kids of different ethnic, racial, social and other backgrounds, but when asked to talk about their friends, rarely do they use these as descriptors. Rather they talk about their likes, dislikes, what they are good at, what makes them a good friend - all more internal qualities. Makes me wonder whether we as adults are the ones making the distinctions and if our kids were left to their own devices there would be less division and more unity.

I was lucky enough to move at the age of 7. We wen...

2009-11-12T13:24:29.770-08:00

I was lucky enough to move at the age of 7. We went from a suburban white neighborhood to a rural street where we joined 2 black families. Other white families moved in as new houses were built, but not until I was a teenager, and not with kids our age. Playing with the Freeman kids was the natural thing to do. We thought nothing of it. I was also lucky enough to spend a year of high school as an exchange student in the Middle East. These two experiences have shaped my world view.

Change will ONLY happen one person at a time. And the sooner we start with each person, the better.

Thank you Duchess. I can't wait to see you in Aug...

2009-11-12T09:08:02.356-08:00

Thank you Duchess. I can't wait to see you in August. Laurel

Duchess, you accomplished what very few have been ...

2009-11-12T06:11:08.620-08:00

Duchess, you accomplished what very few have been able to do - truly surprising me! Luckily I didn't go into labor! :) I cannot thank you enough for coming out to MA for my baby shower! It was wonderful to sit with you and Laurel and talk about old stories and catch up on new. I was most thankful to find that our memories of our childhood friendships were the same. As all three of us said, as young children, none of us realized that we were any "different". May we all pass that innocence along to our children. Our childhoods were enriched by our friendship and continue to this day, 32 years later. Can we possibly be old enough to say that? I look forward to getting to know your family, asking parenting advice and continuing our friendship!