Trigger warning: racism, racial violence, murder
Day after day, year after year, the names of murdered black men and women keep getting longer and longer. Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Aiyana Stanley-Jones, Philando Castile, Tywanza Sanders. These are all rooted in a long history of violence against black people in the U.S.; a history few white people choose to face the results of today. On the Sunday after the Charleston shooting, my my pastor directed us to build peace: “If you are a father, teach your children; if you are a mother, teach your children. If you have any influence at all, use it.” It is our responsibility as parents of all races to teach our children to find alternatives to violence, to be peacemakers. For white parents of white children like me, it’s an absolute obligation.
Here’s how I plan to help my sons become peacemakers – people who doesn’t passively accept the culture but actively works to make it more just.