Racism in early childhood development

First of all I want to say that I hope this post does not offend anyone. Racism takes many forms and comes in many ways. This is something my family experienced many years ago in the 1970’s era.

My parents were both born and raised in Alabama and it was their home for many years. Lack of work caused my parents and my sister to move to the southern part of Florida to seek work. While there I was born. My dad worked and my mom stayed home with her two daughters. When I started to school my mother went to work with my dad at a plant farm beside our house. Many Hispanics worked at the same plant with my parents and there was never a racial issue. Many of our closest friends were Hispanics. We shared many meals, birthday parties, and fun family gatherings together. My sister and I attended a school that was basically all white.  It was the school we were suppose to attend because of where we lived. During the summer between my 2^nd and 3^rd grade, the school district rezoned the school district. Now we would be attending a different school. It was not a problem for me because there would still be other kids there and I would have more friends! So I thought. I had never heard my parents (or anyone else) speak about “racial” problems and I didn’t have a clue about what that even meant! When I walked into my classroom, it was full of children. That is what I saw all children. It just so happen that all of these children (all but 3 including myself) were black children. Some girls started saying some mean things to mean and I thought it was because I was new.  As each day came, it was just like the day before. I played on the play ground alone. The other “white” children had moved. I wanted to play with the children but they would not play with me. So I would play alone. One day in the classroom one of the girls was being worse than normal to me and a big (big for a 9 year old!) boy named Author (I will NEVER forget his name) stood up and yelled at these girls. He told them to “shut up” and to leave me alone! He became my personal bodyguard and really good friend! I still did not have the concept of what was going on. One day when I got home from school my sister was already home sitting in the living room with my mom crying. My dad came home from work my sister still crying and my parents were both upset. My parents tried to protect me from what was going on and they did a great job. It wasn’t until many years later that I found out what really happened. My sister was having a very hard time in school. The girls in her class had been calling her at home and threatened to kill her if she came to school the next day. These girls had been cornering her in the bathroom and even pulled a knife on her and told her to never come back again. She was terrified! She cried and cried and begged my parents to not make her go back to school. My parents went to school to see what could be done. The principal told my parents that there was nothing he could do. He could not promise to protect my sister. This really upset my parents that the school where their children are suppose to be safe can not be responsible for anything that might happen. So my parents packed up a U-Haul, left so many of our personal things behind, and moved their family back to Alabama.  I was really upset because I loved living close to the beach! I had made a couple of friends! Why on earth would anyone want to leave it?! My sister cried all the time but I was too busy playing to try to figure out what was wrong with her! I was going to enjoy everyday no matter what! The stress and pressure on my sister was more than she or my parents could take.  I am really glad that my parents didn’t feel the need to share this information with me. Although it was very traumatic on the family, my family did not feel hatred toward the black race.  They made the move to protect their daughter.  My parents thought that the girls that harassed my sister had some major issues; they never made racial slurs, comments, etc. My parents tried to resolve the issue but it could not be resolved so they chose a drastic step by moving their family to an area where they knew their children would be safe.  As an adult I look back and see what a sacrifice my parents made to protect their children.