Thursday, January 12, 2012

"Where would I sit on the bus, mommy?"

I've mentioned before that each year around Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day my kids always have tons of questions about race, racism and Jim Crow. They learn about the black/white divide of MLK's time, and wonder where they fit with that duality. Usually, they're learning about Rosa Parks and the question has been about where they would sit on the bus. Today, the questioner was Maya, and the first question was about why the KKK burned crosses on black people's lawns. She wanted to know if that sort of thing still happened, and I had to tell her it did, but not as often.  She asked if "they" would have burned a cross on her lawn "back then," since she is "kind of a little dark." Lots to unpack there, hmmm?

If you have Asian children and are getting similar questions this time of year, you might want to check out a previous post, Asian Americans, Adoption and Jim Crow.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

My son (now 12) has had those conversations with me for years...where would I sit on the bus? What drinking fountain would I have been able to use? One of my friends' son asked here "where would YOU sit if I still had to sit at the back of the bus?" My son is now starting to see racism against Asians as distinct but similar to racism against others. It is a lot to unpack for a child, that is for sure.

Anonymous said...

My son (now 12) has had those conversations with me for years...where would I sit on the bus? What drinking fountain would I have been able to use? One of my friends' son asked here "where would YOU sit if I still had to sit at the back of the bus?" My son is now starting to see racism against Asians as distinct but similar to racism against others. It is a lot to unpack for a child, that is for sure.

Reagan said...

A couple of months ago we were watching a show that had an elderly black man talking about how when he was young, he wasn't allowed to go into certain diners. My almost 9 year old asked "Mommy, do you think I would have been allowed in the diners back then".
Thankfully she has not yet experienced racism personally, but we talk openly about it so if (when) it ever does happen to her, we've equipped her be able to deal with it the best she can.