Are the Kids Too Young to Learn About Slavery?


I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but Noah loves biographies. I can read a Junie B. Jones book or a Captain Underpants book and he immediately leaves the room. But sit down and pop open a biography and he's all ears.

Lately I've been reading the In Their Own Words: Harriet Tubman biography to him each night. I find the whole In Their Own Words series so fantastic. Some books I've read aloud to Noah and it's a struggle just to get through them, but this series rocks!

The Harriet Tubman one has really moved me. I don't even remember learning this much in school... and now I really want to learn more about the Underground Railroad. And Noah seems pretty fascinated by it, too. If he'll sit through a chapter without screaming, flinging a toy, or running out of the room then you know it's got his attention!

Anyway, I was wondering if Eli is too young to learn about slavery. He doesn't have the attention span to sit through chapter books yet, but we use our dinner time to all sit around the table and discuss things that are important to us. I kind of want to bring up Harriet Tubman just because I find her fascinating and think it's a really important issue. Plus, we like to talk about the people Noah's learning about in a context outside of his books. I finished reading the In Their Own Words: Helen Keller book last week and we (all the kids) had some great discussions about Helen Keller and how she was able to achieve so much despite being blind and deaf.

Sooooo..... I'm just wondering if slavery is too sensitive a subject to bring up to a 5 and 6 year old? Eli is really sensitive, so I can't be too graphic.... but I don't even know how to bring it up in baby steps. I mean, he's a questioner, so if I casually say to Eli that I'm reading a book about Harriet Tubman to Noah then he's going to ask, "Who's Harriet Tubman?" And if I say "she was a former slave who helped bring over 300 slaves to freedom" he's going to want to know what a slave is....

Right now, he's so innocent and he has no concept of color or that in the past, white people in our country bought black people and used them as slaves. I mean... ugh... it was hard for me to even write that sentence. How do I explain that to him?

But at the same time, one of my greatest wishes is for my children to grow up loving all people and seeing the beauty in all people and I want them to despise racism. I hope they grow up with compassion and kind hearts and knowing that God loves all people and that all people should be treated equally.

They have friends who are Caucasian and African American and Hispanic and Asian. They don't know that races exist and I don't want to spoil that for them. But I while I do believe that all kids are inherently innocent and good, I know that they are going to be introduced to racism in their everyday life.

Remember when Eli was called "China Boy" on his first day of school????

I want to plant seeds of kindness and tolerance while they're young... but I still want to preserve their innocence as long as possible.

Any suggestions on how to broach this subject? Anything that I can read to slowly introduce the subject now... while saving the biography and other information until they get a bit older?

Or do I just sound like a nutball???

Okay, don't answer that! It's rhetorical. ;-)

Comments

Nikki said…
I don't think you sound like a nutball :) And I definitely think you should bring it up and give him some age appropriate info. I know there are some good picture books out there, I was reading some with Jod in the library one day (he, unlike Noah, had absolutely no attention span for them and wanted the Batman books!) Hope you get some better suggestions but I do think it's a great idea to start educating them about this stuff young so they will have more of a grasp on it when they are older.

PS... I am totally jet lagged and up at 4am reading blogs, haha.
4:31 AM
sandwichinwi said…
Ehh, I would wait. That innocence is so precious and once it's gone, it's gone. I think you can still talk about racism and getting along and kindness without all the gory details of the American system of slavery.

If you are looking for a more gentle book that just touches on it but which also discusses racism, you could try the American girl book, Meet Addy. I don't think Harriet Tubman is in the book.

My 2 cents.

Sandwich
8:13 AM
Reading Widely said…
My 6 year old is starting to have some understanding of racism and we have talked about how some people think that the color of your skin says what type of person you are. He also knows what slavery is in reference to the story of Moses and Egypt and all of that. I am not sure he knows about the slavery in our country and how it was one specific race (his) that was enslaved. I imagine it is a subject that we'll begin to talk about soon, though, since I would think they'll talk about it at school before too long.

It seems like you could talk about it in a very surface way - kind of the way that you talk to kids about "the facts of life". You just give small bits of information as they need it and are ready for it. I would think that Eli (and my son as well) could handle "A long time ago there were people who didn't understand that everyone is important because of what is on the inside. They thought they were better because they were white and they made the black people their slaves. A slave is someone who has to work hard with no pay and doesn't get to make any choices for themselves." You wouldn't have to talk about the cruelty to slaves or how deep and dark racism is or even how prevelant it still is today. I imagine that when we talk about this with our kids that's how we'll approach it.

Just my 2 cents. I'm glad you brought this up because I hadn't thought about it in a while. :)
10:02 AM
Pandamonium Mom said…
Hi. I found your blog off of someone else's..not even sure who now! I have a 4 year old and a 6(almost 7) year old. I haven't tackled the subject of racism with my 4 year old, but have with my 6 year old. Very similar to the way Rachel wrote about..no gory details or anything. But a slave is someone who does a lot of work for someone else and they're not paid for it and they don't have a choice and they're not usually treated very nicely. Interestingly, she related this to Cinderella and the way the step sisters treated her! But we've talked about it. She actually just finished 1st grade, and while I don't know if they actually talked about slavery in her class, they did talk about racism in her class. She came home telling me how people with brown skin were called "black" and they weren't allowed to drink from the same water fountain as people with white skin. So, I don't think you're too early - my bet is he hears some things at school this coming year anyway. And being from China (my daughters are too), I wouldn't be suprised if he's already more tuned in to race than you think he is..not in a bad way, but in noticing differences. And again, he's at an age where I see kids starting to take more notice. Hannah asked me early this year "what team am I on?" and when I finally figured out what she was talking about, she wanted to know if she was black or white. So we also talk about how she's neither - she's asian. She's also come home with some racial sayings / remarks she's heard at school (things like the "chinese eyes" and she learned that poem "chinese, japanese, dirty knees" where kids do the eye pulling thing. And there was one about Mexico that didn't sound nice to me too! ) So we've had lots of talks about how inappropriate those are and why.
Anyway, love your thoughts. And I'm going to check out that series you mentioned. Hannah is into biographies too. She's loved Helen Keller and Florence Nightengale so far. I'd love to read her the Harriet Tubman. I also have a Ruby Bridges book for her that we haven't looked at yet.
11:02 PM
Mom 4 Kids said…
You are a great Mom and I know that you will be able to feel out the best way to express the subject to your sensative boy. Let us know how it works out!
12:49 AM
Jane said…
Sorry, no advise here Leslie. Follow your heart, it hasn't failed you yet.
Just wanted to add that I did a book report on Harriet Tubman when I was in the 5th grade. Like Noah and yourself, I was fascinated with the Underground Railroad. At ten it was the first book that really made a lasting impression on me... well that and the The Chronicles of Narnia : )
Cheers~
Jane
12:51 AM
Hannah said…
I definitely think that he is completely capable of handling the subject if you present it in an age appropriate way. Use words that he understands to help him understand the concept. It doesn't have to be complicated or graphic for him to understand that sometimes people treat other people in mean ways, and it's not right. Have you told him the story of baby Moses? That deals with slavery as well and might be a more familiar way to bring up the subject. Just a thought.

Love you!

Blessings!

Hannah
12:19 PM
Recovering Noah said…
Wow! Ya'll are awesome! Thank you so much!!

I like to think I'm open-minded, but when I get stuck on a subject, I tend to become narrow-minded and can't see outside the box. It never even occured to me to use Biblical examples.... and I LOVE the example of using Cinderella. It's just what I needed because Eli IS very sensitive, but I still wanted to take baby steps and introduce the subject of slavery - WITHout letting him know the entire history of it in the U.S just right now.

Talk about not being able to see outside the box... you should've seen my displeasure when he learned about the Pilgrims and "Indians" at school last year. Simeon had to swoop in and save the day. lol

My mind - believe it or not - is so academic and research focused that I have to literally remind myself that I'm working with kids here. Some of you are just so talented in how you interact with children that it blows my mind. I have to be taught step by step.

Thanks again for the suggestions! I'm off to look up picture books on Amazon! :-)
3:24 PM
Pandamonium Mom said…
Hi! Thanks for stopping by my blog. I'm sorry I assumed Eli was from China. I read the part about him being called "China boy" and didn't read back far enough to realize he actually wasn't from China. He's adorable! So are your other kids.
DeEtte
10:03 PM
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