We're All Children of God

Throughout all this "Don Imus" talk and debate, we have been hearing so much and seeing too many of our leaders, entertainers, and others concerning the matter.

Recently, a radio program in Detroit, Michigan was airing some opinions of their listeners on the matter and a seven-year old girl came on and literally started crying. I cannot stress how much this tugged at my heart, and I started to cry as well.

The little girl was totally emotional for one reason: Why hate?

Do you actually take into consideration how all this is affecting our children? For one, we fought for equality that has yet to be seen. And on another, we're still not teaching our children what is moral and just; the children only see their friends of different nationalities as people, their friends whom names are called in friendship. Little Tommy doesn't call his friend Adam, 'the black boy', but he calls him 'Adam', and if he's described...then there may be a chance that he's "Adam, the black boy". Could this also be a form of racism, or is it just our way of distinguishing others? Wouldn't you say that is still a form of racism?

I remember a small boy in Alabama calling me 'brown'; I found it cute, but it showed me, that the children may use a color to describe a person, but it's not racially influenced, so why are we as a society/nation making such a big fuss about it all? I believe we should educate our children on the truth of Martin Luther King's Dream, and what it means to be unified. The dream was one to bring equality in our nation, and not just give one certain race an opportunity to feel 'part' of a nation that was titled to be 'free'.

When children witness parents, family members, and/or media treating others differently because of color, creed or gender, they follow these examples. But the catch is this: The children may follow the examples, but what are their reasons for doing so? Are these youth even aware why we call people derogatory names, treat people cruel or disrespectfully? What would you tell your child about racism? What have you told them?

We all know that the main place of education and molding of a child is in the home. We must be very careful and thoughtful to what we say and do around our children. Even if you may just be throwing terms around loosely, these can be misinterpreted by our children; Hence, the children goes out into the world using the term(s) without true knowledge of what it means, and the effects of using them. And we all know how dreadful and messy this can become.

So, my question for you is whether or not you talk/teach your children how to treat all people the same, regardless of color, gender or creed?