Oh boy

 I read a story about Ruby Bridges with my WIN (What I Need) group.  We are a group who is about at grade level, so we read and discuss stories, repeat, repeat, repeat.

We talked about words like segregation, tolerance, discrimination.

I said some of the people were racist.  One boy looked exceeding uncomfortable and said, "Is this appropriate?"

Whenever we talk about racism, I give the example of me only letting people that have curly hair like me go to recess.  It is so ridiculous that they guffaw and I tell them that curly hair is just as random as the color of your skin and it's wrong to be against someone for such a random thing.

There were only two white students in the room and when we read about the fact that the white children wouldn't be in the same classroom as Ruby Bridges at first, one of them said, "I feel bad about being white.  They were so mean."

I said, "Are you racist?"

She said, "No!"  She pointed across the room, "She's my best friend and she's brown."

"See?" I said.  "You aren't racist, so you don't need to feel bad.  Just because some white people are racist doesn't mean all white people are racist.  You don't need to feel bad."

I asked the class, "If a brown person was racist, would that mean all brown people were racist?"

They emphatically said no.

When we were discussing the meaning of tolerance, a girl gave the example, "Like, if you have a tattoo, that doesn't mean you were in jail."

Before I could comment, a boy said, "My dad has a tattoo.  And...he's been to jail."

They all started talking about who they knew who had been to or was currently in jail.  And who had tattoos.

I tried to bring it back.  I said, "Tolerance is I don't choose to have a tattoo, but I won't hate people who do have tattoos.  Does that make sense?"

They said yes.

Sometimes I feel all kinds of out of my depth.  Also, I'm glad we're having these conversations.  I just hope I get it right.