[...] Most of the early information we receive about "others"--people racially, religiously, or socioeconomically different from ourselves--does not come as the result of firsthand experience. The secondhand information we do receive has often been distorted, shaped by cultural stereotypes, and left incomplete.
Each of us needs to look at our own behavior. Am I perpetuating and reinforcing the negative messages so pervasive in our culture, or am I seeking to challenge them? If I have not been exposed to positive images of marginalized groups, am I seeking them out, expanding my own knowledge base for myself and my children? Am I acknowledging and examining my own prejudices, my own rigid categorizations of others, thereby minimizing the adverse impact they might have on my interactions with those I have categorized? Unless we engage in these and other conscious acts of reflection and reeducation, we easily repeat the process. We teach what we were taught. The unexamined prejudices of the parents are passed on to the children. It is not our fault, but it is our responsibility to interrupt this cycle.
"The unexamined prejudices of the parents are passed on to the children." is really what it boils down to. And it goes WAY back. I remember the 'jokes' Grandpa John used to tell...I wish I didn't. I just bought "me and white supremacy" by Layla Saad. The title continues, "combat racism, change the world and become a good ancestor." I often feel that I have learned more from YOU than anyone else in regard to this subject matter. Thank you.
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