You/We Can Do Better

This post intrigued me. So much so, I commented twice. Click on the link; it won’t take you long to read it.

By Jackie MacDougall’s (the writer of the post) own admission, she messed up. No question. I don’t know many adults – White or of color – who would admit to such a mistake, let alone publish it on a blog. So, I do give her props for that. That said, Jackie’s “my bad!” moment came after a lot of fallout from the blogosphere. Here is the original article. Click on the link; it is shorter than the one above.

What troubles me is that Jackie doesn’t offer any indication as to what she would do differently in future situations – for there will definitely be future situations, or, what she is doing in the present to educate her children. Not only did she send her older child the message, “to get your questions about race answered, drop-kick them to a person of color”, but, she offered no solution for other parents who undoubtedly have found and will find themselves in a similar situation. Neither are a good thing. I was hoping for better, especially from a woman with a child adopted from Taiwan. It was almost like a bad joke without a punch line. But, this time, it isn’t funny.

Since it’s about sharing information here at Miss Incognegro, here are two resources for parents who are seeking guidance for talking with their children about race and skin color:

Talking About Race, Age-by-Age

Preparing Children for a Multicultural World

What advice do you have for Jackie, and for parents in a similar situation?

UPDATE: We now have the other side of the story. Winter Johnson, the co-worker about whom Jackie MacDougall spoke in her piece, has spoken out. Even more intriguing.