Colorblind

I recognize that racism is a problem in the United States and that people are discriminated against based on how they look. As a white woman raising a boy who would grow up to be a white man in the United States I made the intentional decision to try and teach him to be color-blind. That was my approach to try and teach him to not be a racist. 

When Hulk was born I was working as a tutor for student athletes at Oregon State University. My boss had no problem with me taking him to work (as long as he did not distract the students). The student athlete population is much more diverse than the rest of the University's (or even the state of Oregon's) population. Cincinnati, where we live now, is almost split evenly between white and black residents (49% and 45% respectively). Hulk was one of six white students in his kindergarten class of 20 kids - I counted after a family member commented on the diversity. One of his best friends has a white mom and a black dad and another has a black mom and an Indian dad. He is living a much more diverse childhood than I ever did. Which is great! As I scientist I understand that diversity is important for the health and wellbeing of everyone.

A friend of mine has previously suggested I listen to a podcast called 3 in 30. Previously I had said, "mhmm, sure. When I've got time." But in the interest of educating myself in this defining time of our Nation's history I actually listened when she suggested this specific episode on teaching your kids about racism and bias. This led me down a rabbit hole to another episode on how to teach your kids about skin tone and race and several articles including this one by Negros Who Read. 

To summarize:

By trying to teach Hulk to be colorblind I was preventing natural discussions on the uncomfortable topics of racism and bias. 

Non-racist people can still commit racist acts. 

It's not enough to teach him to not be a racist, I need to teach him to be anti-racist and I can not do that by avoiding conversations on discrimination.