ok, we do live a very sheltered life here. Sheltered from the reall ills of the world that so many people are truly effected by. We watched a movie the other night called "The Freedom Wrtiers". Wow! we had such mixed emotions about it. We all cried thru the whole thing. the thing is that it was about where I grew up. It was about things I knew something about but the racial issues got worse, not better. So sad. the story was about high school students that would have ben the clas od 2006. That was not long ago. They witnessed friends and family members murdered. Many, not once but again and again. I never knew that in my life, fortunately. Days before the Watts riots in L.A. we had racial riots on our campus. It effected us all. At the time of our 20 year high school reunion, the incident regarding Rodney King had occured and there were more riots, fires all over L.A. county and gunshots everywhere. I was visiting Long Beach at the time and coudl se and hear what was going on around. It was all over the news. I returned home, uneffected directly. Il recognize that racial discriminations exist all around us everywhere. I felt blessed to have lived in the time and place that I did. I loved my school and felt a unity to my friends who were other ethnic backgrounds. Aren't we all? I never felt that my parents were predjudice towards any group of people. I saw others as people not as colors.
My husband and I have taken into our home as foster kids and now sort of adopted, two brothers who are Black teenagers. They have been with us over a year now. They are normal teenage boys with normal teenage issues intheir maturing lives. Their mom died a few years ago. They have contact with their Dad. That is important for them to know who they are. In our community we are very ethnicly diverse, however, we only have a small number of Black (more likely racially mixed) families here. I want my boys to know about their race and who they are. They, however, learn that mostlyfrom TV and movies, which I don't like in our home much (the TV that is, on any level). Fortunately, what they pick up from that is from comedians. that's not bad. They are funny boy. Very entertaining and cute. Everyone loves them. They are charming and sweet, mostly. We would like them to see what they don't know. what they don't live, without buying into the whole racial discrimination thing that often comes when Blacks and While, etc. inter-relate. this movie I referred to taught how people can learn to love eachother and not fear others. Wow! What a concept. Teaching children not to hate or fear.
My boys are unique at school. For them it works to their advantage socially. they are outgoing and friendly. they make friends easily. Girls love it because they are cute and different.
Last year, we took the boys to Calif. for vacation. We traveled through Las Vegas on the Strip. they were amazed at the Black people in cars next to us. We laughed. They were having Black cultural shock. Wow. then we got to southern Cal. there were more, plus Mexicans, etc. They were in shock again. Wow. They wondered what people thought when they saw us together. I laughed and said "Hmmmm, grandkids maybe." We laughed, but it has made me think more about that. I forget that others don't see them as we see them. Now I try harder to see what the world sees when they look at the boys, or at all of us together. I don't mean that I treat them different, or feel different towards them. I just don't assume now that all is always well just we are because we're ok with it all. I need to be more aware of what it feels like to be them with the world looking in. what more could I teach them now?
We just rented the movie of Roots. We are starting to watch that series. We felt it would be educational for them to see some background of the history of their people. then we want to see other old movies similar to this newer one called "Freedom Writers", such as "To Sir With Love", etc. We felt they are good examples of youth being shown how to live together and learn to love others who were not their own color or had the same cultural background, but how we are al still the same in so many ways. Help us out. What are your thoughts on this? We know that teaching them the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a big part of it. They are doing prety well in their spiritual education there for the most part. I know setting a good example for them and showing them love and consistentcy is also very important. Maybe I justg shouldn't think about it or worry about it so much. They will eventually get it someday in their lives, I guess. I don't know. It's just that we have them only for a few short years before they grow up and leave home and move on in their own lives. We just want to do all we can in the short time we have them with us. I guess we are trying to make up for lost time, lost lessons and teach good things while we can.Ok, so I guess what I am really saying is this. Who are their good role models? Should they be Black as well as White or other? Wouldn't it be nice to have them see at least one Black successful person they could emulate? They love Thurl Bailey. We encourage that. I plan to get a picture of the First Presidency and the 12 because we want to say, do you see them look like such and such, do you think you should look like such and such? And ask them, "What do you think the Brethren teach us about the way we should dress?" "How do you think perspective Missioanries should dress?
