Kourtney Kardashian Nails Why So Many White Parents Avoid Talking About Racism
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We have loved seeing how many white celebrities have shared their moment of awakening this week, as they realize the need to actively teach their children about racism. While we still work toward bigger changes for racial equity and ending police brutality, these little steps represent a shift happening before our eyes. In an essay on her website Poosh.com, Kourtney Kardashian nails the admittedly misguided reason so many parents were reluctant to do this until now.
“As a mother, there is a natural instinct to protect my children from anything that might make them feel sad or unsafe,” Kardashian wrote in her essay “Things I Teach My Children.”
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As the only one of her siblings to have white children, Kardashian has had that luxury of believing that not talking about racism was keeping them happy and comfortable. But it seems she has realized that’s not the right thing to do, and it’s not anyone else’s job but hers to teach her children.
“The pain and suffering inflicted by racism is not a thing of the past, and I bare [sic] the responsibility to speak with my kids honestly and often about it, even when the truth is uncomfortable,” she continued. “I have to make sure they understand what it means to have white privilege and to take the time to learn and discuss Black History, beyond just one short month out of the year.”
While Kardashian said she thought she was on the “right” side of this issue, she acknowledged that she has more to learn. She also echoed what experts have told us when it comes to discussions of race and other differences with kids, that we need to make sure kids know they can come to their parents with any questions, even when they make us uncomfortable.
“Allow conversation without judgement, and learn from our children too,” she said. “We don’t know it all. My children sometimes ask questions that I may not know the answers to, so we explore them together.”
The post concludes with an excellent reading list with which to do so. Read hers, but also, don’t miss these real American history books for children.
Launch Gallery: These Surprisingly Cool Children's Books Show a Different Side of American History
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