Speaking to our children about injustice

When my children ask why anyone would hate someone just because of the color of their skin, what can I say?

Because of fear.
Because of ignorance.
Because of misunderstanding.
Because we have been programmed to fear what we do not understand.

I am a privileged white woman raising 3 white looking children. Among my ancestors I have Cherokee/Tsalagi, Irish, and German. I also come from a heritage of slave owners in the South. Something I am not proud to claim and yet am processing through nonetheless. I do not heal it by hiding it or getting stuck in shame.

Why does there appear to be more hatred than ever? There isn’t. It’s just coming out of the shadows, being seen and heard and witnessed.

What I know is that we need each other. We need the immunity of community. To see each other’s hearts and feel the grief that many people of color are experiencing on our planet right now.

I am asking myself how to hold the grief and also the celebration that we are no longer hiding in the shadows, that people are standing up and crying out ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. Again.

I am asking for answers for how to raise these children to see through the programs and also meet injustice without fear.

We are not born thinking that our differences make us weaker. Nature thrives with biodiversity. The more diverse a landscape or ecosystem is, the more likely it is to thrive and add wellness to the whole ecosystem of life. The plants and animals and fungi within that biodiversity terrain are then stronger and more likely to thrive and pass on their genes.

Racism is weak. It makes us isolate and shrink into our narrow perspectives and lose the immunity of interacting with diverse landscapes, biomes and ideas.

May we all wake up and see the beauty of diversity. So that our future ancestors can thrive from the seeds of love and trust we have planted.

(I have blind spots and my own programs that make it hard to see, so I ask my community to hold me accountable, to help me see past these and into a wider perspective and world.)

Thank you for reading. 🌿💚🌿