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Living in a country that has a diverse population provides parents with many opportunities to teach children about others who are different from them. As your child becomes part of our educational system, whether private or public, he or she will begin to experience the cultural traditions celebrated by other families. Sometimes the physical and cultural differences bring about questions that you will not be able to answer. This brings about a learning opportunity for you and your child. Most educators, school counselors and support staff have been trained to answer your diversity questions. ScottCounseling offers other articles regarding diversity questions. Click on the Diversity section for more parenting and child development articles on this topic.

This article written by Dr. Marguerite A. Wright challenges the parent reader to begin to explore you parent philosophy and personal thoughts regarding race and culture. Your child is watching and listening to you. Are you ready to be a role model?

Living in a Diverse Country

Johnny Lee, a white man who was a former imperial wizard and a founder and recruiter for the Ku Klux Klan Youth Corps, vividly remembers his experience when he was five and saw a black man for the first time. Johnny said to his father, “Look, Daddy, there’s a chocolate-covered man.” Daddy replied, “No, son, that’s a nigger.” Lee said that it was at that moment that “the seeds of hatred” were planted that resulted in his life in the Klan, a life he later repudiated.

Unlike young Johnny, white children who have not been sensitized to race ascribe little importance to skin color.

Relatively few studies have been done on how children of other races, including whites, become aware of racial differences. Those available suggest that skin color is not as salient an issue for white children at the early grade-school stage of development as it is for blacks. It is understandable that young white children do not tend to regard skin color as important, since racial prejudice is generally not a factor in their lives.

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