Everyone Is the Same on the Inside

February is Black History month and many people, including the teachers at Tiny Tribe, believe that black history is important, even for toddlers and preschoolers, because there is still racism, unfairness, and a lack of understanding of black culture in our community. Because our kids are so young (2-4 yrs old), we realize that they don't yet know what the terms "black" and "white" even mean in the context of skin color. They know what the colors "black" and "white" look like but when looking at their own skin or the shades of other people's skin, they actually see pinks, browns, and beige.

We kept things simple for them by first talking about our school friends and noticing their differences. Some of us have brown eyes while some have blue or green. Some of us are girls and some of us are boys. We have different colored hair too and some people have curly while others have straight hair. We brought out two of our classroom baby dolls and noticed how they were the same except for their skin color. We talked about what we each have inside our bodies; like our hearts, lungs, bones, and blood. We talked about how even though people look different on the outside that we all feel sad, happy, scared, and angry on the inside. We all feel love.

We told the kids that a long time ago when their grandparents were little kids, people with brown skin weren't allowed to go to the same schools, use the same bathrooms, or ride on the same buses as the people with beige skin. Because their hearts are pure, the preschoolers immediately knew this was "not fair" or "right". We acted out some scenes with our baby dolls and the preschoolers imagined that the brown skinned baby felt sad and angry that he couldn't come to our school or ride our bus. We talked about how one day a brave woman, named Rosa Parks, refused to get off her seat on the bus, just because her skin was brown and she changed the rules for everyone. We talked about how President Barak Obama is the first President ever to have brown skin and how wonderful it is that we live in a time where everyone can be treated the same way even though they look different on the outside.

Here's what they said about our circle time conversation later today:

Luka (3 1/2) - I know that my mom and my dad are the same and they don't go to different gyms cause they love each other. Black people and white people are the same in their heart. They are both two the same because they are the same. We should be nice to them, somebody that we love. Myla has curly hair and it's longer and Layla has short hair, like a boy, but they are the same inside. No one is better. We all should love everyone in wheel chairs or not.

Layla (3 1/2)- We can't be mean to people. Girls and boys are together. White skin and brown skin are both love. They have the same heart inside. A long time ago people used to say brown people can't come to my school. The brown people were mad and sad. Now everybody can come to our school. They love each other and they don't hit each other. Rose said it's not fair to ride the bus and she said, "NO! I'm not going to do it." because she's brave.

Finn (almost 4)- Brown people and white people are both the same. I'm a white guy. Barack Obama is a brown guy. They used to say you can't come here. They were feeling sad. Firefighters and police officers are the same. They don't wear the same uniform but they both have badges. They're both good guys.

Saige (almost 3)- We were just talking about babies. The baby said you can't come to my school. You can't ride on my bus. The black baby said he was beginning to cry and he goes home and told his mom. His mom says, you can go in there. And he goes back and the babies hugged each other and that's all. They both love each other.

Myla (almost 3)- Brown and white babies go to school together with brown and black. I have white hair and blue eyes. Austin has brown hair and brown eyes. Austin is better and Myla is better too. It's okay if you have glasses. Everybody can go on airplane to see my Mi-mi if they want to. 

Kid's hearts are so loving and pure. Things are so simple when you are young. The world makes so much sense before our heads get tainted with prejudices.