Race Chats – Examples

Here is another example.

After watching a news report about a racially motivated crime – the burning of a cross on the lawn of a Korean-American family – my son turned to me and asked, “why don’t white people like us?” I was speechless.

One of the best things you can do is to support your son’s feelings of shock and horror. Share your own horror about this particular incident and all hate crimes in general.

After that, your son’s question can be a springboard for talking about stereotyping. “White people don’t all think and feel the same way. Neither do Korean Americans, Jews, Latinos or any group. Look at you and Jason Li. You like soccer. He likes baseball. You’re different in lots of ways, even though you’re both Korean-American.”

You can also use this as a chance to talk about race hatred in the world, how you feel about it, and what the solutions might be. Even though we may sometimes feel discouraged and disillusioned about the world, it is important to give our children hope. Remind your son that even though race hatred exists, there are many people, of all races, working to prevent it.