Published: October 13, 1999
African
American Children
and Identity
By Christine Longmore ©1999
Raising Black children with a positive sense of identity is no easy job. But when the necessary thought and effort is put into the job as a parent, the result is the difference between creating civilization and not just increasing the population. Teaching children to view their place in the world positively, becomes especially challenging when they begin to put pieces of history together. While I have control over what I teach my children about the world at home, their experience in the world to some extent is out of my control.
The day my daughter first learned about slavery is a day I will not soon forget. She was only 7. She had been watching "Reading Rainbow" and the story was about slavery. We discussed it for a while and I found myself wanting to keep it as simple as possible considering her age. When she asked me why though I was stumped. She wanted to know why. She said, "how could anyone think they had the right to do that !?" She wanted to know. I tried to offer a logical explanation, you know, happy endings and all that.
I stumbled. I stumbled over her innocence and the need to preserve it. After explaining the logistics of how it happened, she still wasn't satisfied. The best I could come up with was this. I told her that there are good and bad people in the world and as long as she tries to be a good person and do the right thing she'll be alright.
For my daughter attending school in an all white environment at times seemed to only intensify the difficulty in developing an understanding of our history. She often expressed her discomfort and feelings of isolation when it was time for her to participate in discussions about slavery. For this reason, she preferred to discuss the history of Africans in America at home. These discussions lead to many important questions. One that stands out in my mind is, - could it ever happen again? Well of course I assured her that it wouldn't. In the back of my mind I wondered. Can anyone really say it couldn't happen again? I'm sure the first captured Africans never imagined the possibility of being enslaved or the horror that awaited them over seas. I decided not to tell her that slavery and other forms of oppression still exist and have since the beginning of time.
I guess as parents we all instinctively try to protect our children from any kind of pain or suffering when we can. I also think that we have to look at those feelings of sadness, anger, fear, etc as natural reactions to a terrible thing. It is extremely important that we learn for ourselves and pass on history that reflects our strength - like the many slave rebellions that most of us know little or nothing about or the inventions that African Americans are responsible for in part or entirely. Our history is incredible and really unlike many other groups of people.
It seems historically, Black people have often been the underdogs but we always seem to rise too. There are so many great Africans of both continents. Kings and Queens, doctors and spiritual leaders of the past and present - inventors, musicians, artists, writers, scientists, athletes, entertainers, the list goes on. You name it we have someone that is great at it. It occurred to me one day that the only Black heroes I really knew anything about as a child were Martin Luther King, and Muhammed Ali. Of course they were great heroes to have but today my children see Black heroes every where and I'm thankful for that. We also have countless numbers of "unsung heroes" like the late Mother Hale who established the Hale House in New York City for drug addicted and otherwise struggling babies or the neighborhood dad/friend/coach who always has time for the kids.
Hopefully, this new generation of Africans in America will find more opportunities for learning about the greatness of our history to balance out the negative. If that happens, our children's perspective on our history will be a strength in their efforts to develop strong and healthy identities.
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