Who is responsible for teaching children about race and racism?
Is it the responsibility of parents? Schools? Society?
Actually, it’s all of the above.
I mostly learned about the evils of racism from my family. My parents and my grandparents passed on their experiences. They owned the Ebony Black Encyclopedia set, had books by famous Black authors, and shared their personal stories.
During summer break, I spent time with my grandparents in Gloster, Miss. and under the shade tree heard their stories about brushes with racism. Tales of shootings and beatings of Blacks by whites. The story of Emmitt Till, who was killed just three hours away from my grandparents’ farm. Run-ins with whites over the years that were too numerous to count.