Explaining Racism to Your Children!

With everything that is going on in the world today, it's easy to worry about explaining all the tragedies seen on the local news to your children.

Will they be able to process it in a healthy way? How will they be affected? Many moms share the same sentiments and worried parents struggle with how to protect their children from seeing the ugly truth about the history of violence that stirs from racism.

In an interview on ABC today, we learned about how George Floyd's 6-year-old daughter processed the information about her dad whose brutal death by the hands of law-enforcement broke many hearts in the nation.

We learned that young #Gianna doesn't know how her father died, but she knows that everyone is talking about it. Roxie Washington, her mom, reported that she couldn't tell Gianna about her father's death.

"Dad changed the world," Gianna said during a recent demonstration in Minneapolis.

Young #Gianna doesn't know what happened to her father. First, we're struggling to survive #Coronavirus and now, we are forced to witness such a violent death. Her mom just told her he couldn't breathe in a recent interview. One couldn't imagine explaining to their child that their father is gone because of the color of his skin. In turn, how would that mold the child's perception of his or her own race and identity. Just the video alone of his death was too graphic for any child to watch.

Photo by Taylor Bennett, May 30, 2020 in Newark, NJ

Photo by Taylor Bennett, May 30, 2020 in Newark, NJ

George Floyd lost his life on Memorial Day after a police officer, Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer, strangled him to death by holding his knee on his neck and handcuffing him. Floyd's next to last words were, "I can't breathe." His death brought on outrage and protest in many cities. Newark, NJ was among the cities that expressed their frustration.

Although, the event is a lot to swallow. According to CNN, experts suggest parents should assume their children are already aware of the tragedies like these and their aftermath. Most likely they have already viewed it on You Tube or heard it through a mutual friend.

"Children and adolescents are experiencing the collateral consequences of the publicized murders of #Breonna Taylor, #Tony McDade, and George Floyd, whether they have smart phones in their possession or not," said a California pediatrician Dr. Rhea Boyd, who teaches nationally on the relationship between structural racism, inequity and health.

In the age of technology, children already know what's going on. They would benefit from an honest talk from parents rather than the wrong information from peers.

But as believers, be sure to pray about it first. Make sure that you aren't harboring hatred in your own heart as well. You wouldn't want to translate the same message of hate to your children. Regardless of who it is and what is done, as believers, we know that God is love! And forgiveness is necessary to achieve Godly love!

Vengeance is the Lord's.

#GeorgeFloyd

#DerekChauvin