Would You Leave Your Kid In An All "One Race" Daycare?

[Crazy8]

I would not turn anyone away based on race but I will admit in my 10+ years I have only had maybe 2-3 children that were not fully caucasian. It's not something I can really control, my town is 90% white and its all I've ever received calls for. Would I ever turn away a client because they were not white - NO WAY!!

[cheerfuldom]

That is a shocking post, OP. i am "ethnic" race and would cry to know that someone would not want to work with me based on that reason or would not want their kids around my "mixed" children. Thats just a sad, sad state and shame on people to be thinking that way. I never really thought about it but perhaps some people that have interviewed and not gone with me, did so because they had a problem with my race.

[Michelle]

That is a shocking post, OP. i am "ethnic" race and would cry to know that someone would not want to work with me based on that reason or would not want their kids around my "mixed" children. Thats just a sad, sad state and shame on people to be thinking that way. I never really thought about it but perhaps some people that have interviewed and not gone with me, did so because they had a problem with my race.

I'm sorry, I am just having a little trouble understanding what you are saying.
Do you mean the "so called friend" providers that I mentioned who discriminate?
Or something someone else said?

[BigMama]

To screen people and refuse to interview/enroll them based on their race is called RACISM. Point blank. End of story. It is disgusting and I hope she isn't passing her bigotry down to the children in her care.
I live in a fairly large urban area and my daycare has always been multi-cultural. I've had children from every race, religion, and walk of life. When we get stares at the playground and people ask, "Are these all your children?" I smile and say yes.
I would have to say though, that I am not "colorblind." To say that you are "colorblind" means that you don't acknowledge the children's race and ethnicity. I do just the opposite - we notice and celebrate it! When one child says "J.'s hand is brown and mine is white," I respond with, "Yes, J. has lovely brown skin just like his mom and dad!" We read stories featuring people of every color regularly. We talk about what makes us special and unique. We learn words in other languages. We play, learn, eat, sing, dance, and grow together. I am not colorblind and I don't want the children to be either - I want them to respect and appreciate all people.

[Hunni Bee]

We had a young lady come interview to work with us and enroll her 4 year old daughter. We are 100% African American, both staff and children. She was Caucasian. We liked her, her daughter begged to play with my class and had to be dragged away when it was time to go, and we looked forward them starting. The day they were supposed to start they didn't show up or call, or the next day. When we finally got ahold of her through her eligibility worker, they said she was sick and would "never be coming to work with us" or sending her daughter. A light bulb came on in my mind, and I've always believed someone convinced her not to work in or send her child to an all-Black daycare. I could be wrong, but...

[Blackcat31]

I have also been seeing a lot of care.com ads saying " Muslim preferred" and Filipino preferred .. It's actually really sad that these families could be missing out on some awesome providers that would be willing to learn about their culture and make their countries food dishes just for fun and a learning experience for the other kids.

I know you didn't mean it this way, but that (in bold above) is exactly why the families say they prefer the provider or setting to be Muslim or Fillipino or whatever culture they are looking for. Cultures are a way of living and not just for "fun".

I'd be upset if I thought my provider was integrating my culture or religious traditions "just for fun" and not as a fundamentally important part of living...kwim? I get what you meant about it being good for everyone to experience all cultures but the way it was stated was kind of hurtful IMOP.

I have a very culturally diverse group of kids too and celebrating or learning about other races, cultures and traditions should never be 'theme weeks' or special events.

It should simply be natural and part of the everyday curriculum as if it were no different than anyone else's beliefs.

[CheekyChick]

My kids are all different colors and I love them all the same.

The real question should be: As a parent, would you put your child in a daycare with a white provider if your child was black? Or a black provider if your child was hispanic? Or an Asian provider if your child was Indian? You get what I mean... I wonder if parents would prefer their child be taken care of by someone of the same race.

[Crystal]

To screen people and refuse to interview/enroll them based on their race is called RACISM. Point blank. End of story. It is disgusting and I hope she isn't passing her bigotry down to the children in her care.
I live in a fairly large urban area and my daycare has always been multi-cultural. I've had children from every race, religion, and walk of life. When we get stares at the playground and people ask, "Are these all your children?" I smile and say yes.
I would have to say though, that I am not "colorblind." To say that you are "colorblind" means that you don't acknowledge the children's race and ethnicity. I do just the opposite - we notice and celebrate it! When one child says "J.'s hand is brown and mine is white," I respond with, "Yes, J. has lovely brown skin just like his mom and dad!" We read stories featuring people of every color regularly. We talk about what makes us special and unique. We learn words in other languages. We play, learn, eat, sing, dance, and grow together. I am not colorblind and I don't want the children to be either - I want them to respect and appreciate all people.

YES! YES! YES!

[Michelle]

I know you didn't mean it this way, but that (in bold above) is exactly why the families say they prefer the provider or setting to be Muslim or Fillipino or whatever culture they are looking for. Cultures are a way of living and not just for "fun".

I'd be upset if I thought my provider was integrating my culture or religious traditions "just for fun" and not as a fundamentally important part of living...kwim? I get what you meant about it being good for everyone to experience all cultures but the way it was stated was kind of hurtful IMOP.

I have a very culturally diverse group of kids too and celebrating or learning about other races, cultures and traditions should never be 'theme weeks' or special events.

It should simply be natural and part of the everyday curriculum as if it were no different than anyone else's beliefs.

The parents I have don't think what I do is hurtful.
They loved it when I ask about their country,cultures,food.
They love it that I am learning their languages.
Most providers would never go as far as I have to make them feel wanted and loved in my home and embrace who they are and where they come from.
When we took the kids to Disneyland and I had to call all the parents to tell them we were going to be late, I spoke 3 different languages in a span of 5 minutes and One of my dcg's is deaf and she asked me something while I was on my cell talking in Spanish and I signed to her while doing this. Then asked my assistant something in English. This guy sitting next to me was pretty impressed.
Last Summer for V.B.S we had a day where the kids were to dress up from another country. One of my Nigerian daycare parents made some outfits from her country and my daughter braided all their hair. This mother was not offended at all. They had "fun" that day.They also know more about Africa than most High school graduates! In my daycare we learn through play!

Black cat, do you have a dress up center with outfits from different countries?
Do your kids have fun with them?
I know on the internet it's really hard to tell people's intentions and tone of their voice. Maybe you just didn't understand the intent of my post.

[JenNJ]

My son went to a preschool last year that had 22 kids in his class. Only one child was not white. Around here, that is just how it is. I wouldn't seek out a single race daycare.

I think people are people no matter the skin color so really I don't care what races are present or not as long as the character of the kids is good, I would place my son there.

[jen]

To screen people and refuse to interview/enroll them based on their race is called RACISM. Point blank. End of story. It is disgusting and I hope she isn't passing her bigotry down to the children in her care.
I live in a fairly large urban area and my daycare has always been multi-cultural. I've had children from every race, religion, and walk of life. When we get stares at the playground and people ask, "Are these all your children?" I smile and say yes.
I would have to say though, that I am not "colorblind." To say that you are "colorblind" means that you don't acknowledge the children's race and ethnicity. I do just the opposite - we notice and celebrate it! When one child says "J.'s hand is brown and mine is white," I respond with, "Yes, J. has lovely brown skin just like his mom and dad!" We read stories featuring people of every color regularly. We talk about what makes us special and unique. We learn words in other languages. We play, learn, eat, sing, dance, and grow together. I am not colorblind and I don't want the children to be either - I want them to respect and appreciate all people.

YES!!!! I was trying to think of a way to express this thought, but you did it better than I could of!

[Blackcat31]

The parents I have don't think what I do is hurtful.
They loved it when I ask about their country,cultures,food.
They love it that I am learning their languages.
Most providers would never go as far as I have to make them feel wanted and loved in my home and embrace who they are and where they come from.
When we took the kids to Disneyland and I had to call all the parents to tell them we were going to be late, I spoke 3 different languages in a span of 5 minutes and One of my dcg's is deaf and she asked me something while I was on my cell talking in Spanish and I signed to her while doing this. Then asked my assistant something in English. This guy sitting next to me was pretty impressed.
Last Summer for V.B.S we had a day where the kids were to dress up from another country. One of my Nigerian daycare parents made some outfits from her country and my daughter braided all their hair. This mother was not offended at all. They had "fun" that day.They also know more about Africa than most High school graduates! In my daycare we learn through play!

Black cat, do you have a dress up center with outfits from different countries?
Do your kids have fun with them?
I know on the internet it's really hard to tell people's intentions and tone of their voice. Maybe you just didn't understand the intent of my post.

Yes, I might not have understood the intent of your post but your words were "to learn about their culture and make their countries food dishes just for fun".

To me that says those cultures aren't a part of your everyday curriculum but are done "just for fun". Sort of like 1 day out of each month is a day to have food from the Hispanic cultures but the rest of the days it is American food. Does that make sense?

Like I said, I am sure you didn't mean it the way I took it but I dont like hearing providers say they do things that are multi-cultural and are all inclusive but then act as if learning about cultures different than their own is a theme for a week or a "fun day" of something different.

I think that if you are going to say you are multi-cultural, then every single child in your program should have their culture and traditions represented 100%equally. Christmas should be no more of a celebration than Kwanzaa or Las Posadas. One should never be viewed as the norm while other cultures are for fun or simply a learning experience.

....and yes, I do have a multi-cultural mix of dress up clothing. I have 16 different outfits and each of them represents a different culture and/or region of the world. I also have 8 animal costumes. I suppose my kiddos have fun with all the dress up clothes or they wouldn't play with them as much as they do.

[Michelle]

O.k. I get what you are saying.
I really wouldn't be able to serve their cultural foods everyday because alot of it is high in carbs and very spicy but we do listen to all different types of music, all the kids are learning Spanish, Edo, and sign language, and of course we have multi cultural puppets,dress up clothes, and skin color crayons from Lakeshore.

[Blackcat31]

O.k. I get what you are saying.
I really wouldn't be able to serve their cultural foods everyday because alot of it is high in carbs and very spicy but we do listen to all different types of music, all the kids are learning Spanish, Edo, and sign language, and of course we have multi cultural puppets,dress up clothes, and skin color crayons from Lakeshore.

See, I knew we were on the same page.

[familyschoolcare]

so all this talk about cultures, races and ethenic food, caused me to remember when I took a nutrtion class a while back one of the things they told us we should be doing is to serve food that repersents all the cultures and ethenicies of the children in the day care. This made me laugph because I have a white children, so what does that look like for me.