The Necessary Talk: Discussing Racism with Your Child

In some households, the only "talk" that was had was the birds and the bees. In other households, the "talk" or discussion rather, was how to stay out of the way of white men and white people in general. During this time, Black people wanted to be treated fairly, treated equally.

Before we get too deep, I need you to understand that this is my take on racism from both a white and black perspective, and of course, merely opinion, so if at any point, your face begins to sour at my thoughts and opinions on the topic, feel free read a story that brings you more light and excitement.

Having got that out of the way, let's discuss racism. What started it? Why is it still happening? Here's the thing. There's racism everywhere, especially among Black people. Did you know that? During slavery times, there were the Black people that worked in the field, and the Black people that worked in the house of the "master". The Black people that worked in the field were referred to as "field n*****", and the Black people that worked in the house of the master were called "house n*****". The Black people that worked in the fields were very dark. The Black people who worked in the house were lighter skinned, and this was the start of the neverending fued between dark skinned Black people and lightskinned Black people. Maybe this was setup by design?

In different times, a lot of people worked hard and took care of their families. Today, sadly, I can't say the same. While yes, a lot of Black people take care of their families, it's not as common as it once was. Today, Black people are the posterchild for deserting their families and creating children and not taking care of them. It's one big mess. Not to say that White people do not do the same, because they do, but they're not known for it. They're more known for scandals and extortion, if you will.

So, let's take another factor into consideration. There was a time people didn't think Black people had souls, I mean come on, at one time, Black people were considered property. Really, property, and yes, this was law. There was a time Black people couldn't be anywhere near White people. They couldn't eat in the same restaurant, use the same bathroom, or do anything that involved the two races coming together. Where did that start? Where did that come from?

Today, racism continues in the United States and in other parts of the world, but we'll just address the U.S. for now. Racism in the U.S. has evolved a few times, but who's to blame? Racism is taught. It is learned. So how far do you go back to blame someone? At one time, being racist was law. White people didn't think twice about Black people, and if a White person considered the feelings of a Black person, they were considered a "n***** lover" and often received the same punishment as Black people.

For the White and Black people who lived during these times, life was chaos. Think about things this way. Taking a deeper look at racism, if hating a person of another color was an actual law, and it's what you were expected to do, would you teach your child to hate a person of another color? There were some White people that didn't hate Black people, but that wasn't okay, becuase not only was it law that made Black people different from White people, society did it's part too. White people were expected to bash Black people every chance they got. So, here's the thing, is it right, no, but look at it this way: White people don't want any problem with other White people, so they do as they are told and hate Black people. Black people don't want any trouble with White people, so they steer clear of White people at all costs.

Racism is pure hatred, or is it fear? What do you think? Let's fast forward to racism today. It's totally different to me. Black people are not as hard working as they once were and it's these people who make the hard working Black citizens of the United States look horrible. Here's the deal. All White people are not racist, and not all Black people are criminals or thugs.

There's the whole Black lives matter movement. Do Black lives matter? Certainly. Do all lives matter? Certainly. It just seems like the Black lives are being taken the most. But in retrospect, before anyone can address police officers killing Black people, let's look at the elephant in the room. Where was the whole Black lives matter movement for years when Black people were killing, and still are, killing Black people? Right.

Black people have been killing or Black people for years, and nothing is said. No movement is started that hits the news the way Black lives matter did. Why is that? We don't live in this world alone, so yes, everything is give and take. All White people aren't to blame and all Black people aren't to blame.

Let's make sense here. I'm upset about a White police officer killing a Black person, so I'm going to make my voice heard by burning down the only Black-owned store in my neighborhood or I'm going to start a riot and steal from all the stores in my neighborhood and set them on fire. Where in the entire hell does that make sense?

There is a right and wrong way to do a lot of things, and I'm not sure burning down your neighbor's store is the answer. Think about it. Racism. White people who are racist hate and sometimes kill Black people. They're not killing or bothering other White people unless they don't follow suit. It's been going on for years, but it doesn't make it right. In retrospect, Black people have been killing other Black people for years, and there's nothing said, nothing done. There's no Black lives matter protest then, and you know what, there still isn't one. So is this really about justice? Are Black people really fighting for the justice of all the fallen angels due to the fuck ups of police officers or are they making a scene for attention? I agree that police offers need to be held responsible for their fuck ups and not put on any type of paid leave. Yes, that type of madness needs to stop, but what type of person are you to call a person out for doing the same shit you do? Peace has to come from within. You can't fight hatred with hatred.