Perhaps many of you that read this blog from outside the US don’t know that February in America is “black history month”. The idea behind it is to remember African American people who had made important contributions to the history of this country. Whether you agree or not with the notion of creating a special time in the year dedicated to black history, the fact is that every school in the country dedicates part of the curriculum to speak about important figures of the African American community. Also January 14th is a federal holiday marking the birthday of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
One of the topics discuss at school during these days is as you might imagine, slavery and racism.
This year was the first time my son understood the subject and later sat down with me to talk about it.
The other day while I was driving the kids to swimming lessons, my older daughter told us that she wanted to be white and that her classmates made fun of her because of her dark skin. Surprisingly the one who started explaining to her that being black was good was my son. He then proceeded to teach her about slavery, the civil rights movement (not in those words) and how some white people can be really mean. He told her that probably her classmate was a racist, and that racist people are simply stupid and that she has to remember that the “master” (meaning president) of America is black and that she shouldn’t be ashamed of her skin color.
Wow! That was a wonderful lesson taught by a peer, brother, and person of color, all at the same time, not counting that he’s just 8 years old! I couldn’t have done it better.
A child that when I adopted him was almost 4 years old and couldn’t speak in ANY language, who has been neglected, abused, and malnourished and is still struggling at school to learn, has a very clear idea of who he is.
I’m so proud of him!

AliciA