A small
group of preschoolers was sitting at a table waiting for the afternoon snack.
A boy
said to one Indian girl who is his peer, "Your color is black."
Teacher D who was at bathroom changing another child overheard and stepped in and asked, "What color is Ms. Deidre?"
Deidre
is another teacher in the classroom who was sitting near him.
The boy looked at Ms. Deidre and said without hesitation, "Black."
Teacher
D asked again, "What is my color?", standing by the door of bathroom.
The
child responded immediately, "Brown."
Teacher
D continued asked, "What color is Ms. Sara?", I was putting cots in the closet and standing by the door of the closet. The closet is next to the bathroom.
Everyone
was attracted by the conversation and listened to the dialogue. The boy looked
at me and looked at teacher D, hesitated.
Teacher
D asked again, "What color is Ms. Sara?"
The boy
slowly with lower voice said, "White."
The
conversation stopped suddenly. No further dialogue. The air of the classroom
was freezing at the moment and silent. Children and teachers looked at me and
teacher D. None of us say any more word. The silent had made me thinking there was a problem. If the dialogue kept going on
toword more other people in the classroom, I would not feel the issue.Teacher D is an American African dyed
with gold hair. My skin color is dark yellow without any make-up. My color is much
similar with the color of teacher D. The Indian girl's color is dark brown, lighter than Ms. Deidre's.
I was
thinking how the boy identified me as white at the moment. How should I respond the dialogue? I felt something there related prejudice with race and did not know
how to react at the moment and to make it a learning moment. I have been in
teaching and diversity program for years. I have learned about child
development and the significant influences adult relationships
have on children's social, emotional, and cognitive growth and the forming of
social identities. So, what happened to me at that moment? I experienced a hard
time of separating my personal self from my professional identity about issues
related to diversity. I was dull.
The
child is from a Caucasian family, turned 3-years-old by the week of the
dialogue. Children looked the faces of people around them and developed the
identity starting at infant age. “The concept of race is a socially defined
construct used as a way to divide people into groups ranked as superior and
inferior”(Derman-Sparks and Olsen Edwards, 2010, p.77). The child has received
the concept of race most likely by his observation on people around. I do not
think his teachers and family had taught him about the racial identity. He made
a prejudice based on the colors of people by putting me in his group and the
Indian girl in the Africa American group. Race in the scientific consensus has
no biological basis- we are all one race, the human race. (Derman-Sparks and
Olsen Edwards, 2010). Thinking back the scenario, it is important that making
the racial identity activity as a part of the preschool curriculum. It will
help children as well as teachers learning the truth in an anti-bias way and develop their positive
identity.
Reference
Derman-Sparks,
L., and Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and
ourselves. Washington, D.C.:
National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).