Ethnic Terminology?

[DBug]

I just added two dark-complexioned dolls to our house center, and the kids are going around calling them their "black babies"! Can you tell we live in a predominantly light-skinned area? I don't like that term at all, so I've been been saying things like "this new doll has darker skin than the other ones", but I'm not sure that's the right thing to do.

What do you do? What kind of terms do you use to describe skin colour? I would probably never bring it up, because I see skin colour as the same kind of thing as hair colour (and who talks about hair colour with kids?), but when the kids themselves bring it up, I'd like to be able to give them some non-offensive, culturally appropriate terms to use (and no, "African-American" is not a term we use in Canada ). What kinds of words do you use? I'd also like to add a Hispanic-featured and an Asian-featured doll to our collection, so if you have any advice on terms for those dolls I'd love to hear them too!

[ninosqueridos]

How old are the kids? We refer to all dolls as "our babies"..........."are our babies hungry?"...."do our babies need a diaper change?".....but my dcks are mostly 1-3 years old. Interested in your replies though. Not sure how you would handle it considering they may be hearing those descriptions in their own homes....

[Unregistered]

I might remove the dolls from the collection until you are ready and set to properly handle ethnic issues. You don't want to create a problem you are not ready to handle. You have great intentions, and once you figure out how to go about introducing or dealing with other ethnicities, than you are ready to have the dolls out. I'm sure you'll get alot of good suggestions here :-)

[Crystal]

I would ask the kids, Do you really think they are black?" then using paints- brown and white, mix colors together, compare the colors that are created using different ratios of brown and white paint, show the kids colors that are similiar to their own skin, as well as to the new dolls. None of us are really "white" or "black" we are all a beautiful, yet different shade of brown - some very light, some very dark, but all beautiful just the same.

[momofsix]

I am white, my husband black (that's what he calls himself), our own children are black, white and bi-racial (we adopted some). We are a real rainbow family! My daycare children are bi-racial black/white and Honduran/white, Etheopian, Korean, Indian (not American Indian) and Chinese-I love the diversity that is in our home everyday, and couldn't imagine it any other way. Then I talk with others, and am reminded that the world is not really the way i think it is, people often have no relationships of any kind with people that don't look like them, and it makes me so sad. I'm so glad that youre getting dolls that reflect different ethnicities and cultures. That is a great way to expose kids, you could also hang up pictures of children from different ethnicities (but make sure the children in the pictures are playing/reading...something familiar to your kids-not foreign) Also there are FINALLY quite a few good books on the market showing kids from different ethnicities doing normal everyday things. The more kids are exposed to kids that don't look like them, the less awkward it will seem to them.
Sorry for the long ramble. To answer your question, we often talk about skin color, because the kids will bring it up. They talk about it like they talk about the colot of the shirt they are wearing, or the color car they want, and sadly, they sometimes bring it up in conversations like "i want to be a rincess, but they have white skin" or "the black boys are bad" :confused: These are kids of color that are exposed to different cultures on a daily basis, and it's still hard to stop the stereotypes our culture imposes from affecting them. OOPS-sorry again! Anyhow-we usually call the skin color what it is-there are really no "black" or "white"kids in my care (or anywhere for that matter), so they are usually brown or tan, or whatever color works. We all have beautiful skin, hair, eyes...even if it is different than someone elses-that's what we hope they embrace!

[DBug]

My kids are mostly toddlers from around 14 months to 36 months.

And I should specify, I haven't brought up the skin colour differences or initiated any comparisons, but I've attempted to kind of rephrase their words when they've made the "black babies" comments. (ie- toddler: "I have the black baby!", me: "You have a baby with darker skin").

But I guess I could just ignore the specific words they're using, and direct them to something else (ie: What beautiful eyes your baby has, Are you taking your baby out for a walk, etc.). Ideally, I would like for them to not even see the colour of the doll's skin, I'd like them to see them all as dolls . So maybe the redirection is what I should be doing ...

[momofsix]

My kids are mostly toddlers from around 14 months to 36 months.


But I guess I could just ignore the specific words they're using, and direct them to something else (ie: What beautiful eyes your baby has, Are you taking your baby out for a walk, etc.). Ideally, I would like for them to not even see the colour of the doll's skin, I'd like them to see them all as dolls . So maybe the redirection is what I should be doing ...

Not noticing skin color is one "politically correct" way of doing things. But, as my husband says, "If you pretend that i'm not black, then you're pretending you don't see ME, because I am black! " He by no means speaks for all people of color, so my responses are not meant to generalize anything, but in our relationships we don't want to ignore our differences, we choose to CELEBRATE them! We learn to speak a little Spanish, we try different foods that we're not used to, we sing different songs that only those we were brought up with, we shop at a grocery store that has many different peoples shopping there...wherever we can find diversity we celebrate it!

[DBug]

I took so long writing my own response (was interrupted a few times), that I didn't see that there had been a few replies in the meantime ::

momofsix, thank you so much for your insight! I hear what you're saying about celebrating differences. During circle time, I occasionally have the kids each tell me how old they are, and we cheer for each child -- I'm guessing that's how it should be? Each one is a different age, and we're all happy for each one's specific age, and we don't all pretend we're the same age. So, do you correct the kids when they make generalizations? How do you handle it? And thanks for the suggestions about posters and books -- I just saw a set of posters at the teacher's store the other day that I think would do quiet nicely!

Crystal, I love the paint idea. I think I'll do it. I like the idea of pointing out that our "black babies" aren't actually black.

I've also used my own skin as an example of the wide range of colours people can be -- I'm incredibly freckled, and I have every colour possible somewhere on me ::

Thanks again for the comments, this discussion has really started my mind turning!

[misol]

I just added two dark-complexioned dolls to our house center, and the kids are going around calling them their "black babies"! Can you tell we live in a predominantly light-skinned area? I don't like that term at all, so I've been been saying things like "this new doll has darker skin than the other ones", but I'm not sure that's the right thing to do.

What do you do? What kind of terms do you use to describe skin colour? I would probably never bring it up, because I see skin colour as the same kind of thing as hair colour (and who talks about hair colour with kids?), but when the kids themselves bring it up, I'd like to be able to give them some non-offensive, culturally appropriate terms to use (and no, "African-American" is not a term we use in Canada ). What kinds of words do you use? I'd also like to add a Hispanic-featured and an Asian-featured doll to our collection, so if you have any advice on terms for those dolls I'd love to hear them too!

I think an easy fix would be to give each doll a name have the children refer to the dolls by name rather than color or ethnicity. I would suggest that the name of each doll reflect its ethnicity/culture though. I think this is a great opportunity to introduce some age-appropriate books on race, cultural differences, etc. Good books on the topic should point out how we are all unique in some way, shape, or form, but we are more alike than different. Good luck.

I am curious - since they don't use the term African-American in Canada, what are the AA's called? If they call are called Black, then I think it's appropriate for the children to say Black baby, White baby, Chinese baby, etc. JMO.

[momofsix]

So, do you correct the kids when they make generalizations? How do you handle it?

This is a tough one to answer. It really depends on what it is they're thinking. For the little girl who thought she had to be white to be a princess, we pulled our some wands/tierras...for her to play with and she saw that she was a beautiful princess Sometimes something like that is all it takes. or I try to find a book about the particular subject. There are times that an immediate verbal correction is appropriate, or if not a correction at least a discussion about what they are thinking, where they got their ideas, and exploring if it is true or not-as i said, it really depends on so many things-not very helpful, sorry.

[DBug]

I am curious - since they don't use the term African-American in Canada, what are the AA's called?

African-Canadian . But I prefer not to use the term at all -- I mean, who am I to assume someone came from a certain place based on their skin colour? People do use that term once in awhile, but not too often. You do hear the term "black", when the police are giving out descriptions of wanted people (they use "white", "Asian", and "Hispanic" too), but I don't hear it in general conversation for the most part. People (in my circles, anyway) are more likely to use descriptive phrases like "he's from a little town in South Africa" or "she has a Jamaican accent", to reference race. But it's not something that the people I know really refer to (and definitely not in polite conversation), which may be why it surprised me so much when the kids started using the term "black baby".

[MarinaVanessa]

I prefer not to use the term at all -- I mean, who am I to assume someone came from a certain place based on their skin colour?

You make a valid point here that I'm glad you mentioned. I come from a hispanic background but by all means do I not call myself Mexican . I was not born in Mexico nor do I live there . I consider myself American of latin/hispanic descent. I have dark brown hair, light olive skin and red-brown eyes. I look like my mom, her sister has red hair, light skin with pink undertones, and dark brown (almost black eyes). My grandpa has light skin, blond hair and blue eyes. My dad has very tanned skin, black hair and dark brown eyes (almost black). His brother is extremely dark skinned, with black hair and brown eyes. My mom and dad (and their families) are both immigrants from the same town in Mexico . My grandpa is often confused as caucasian and my uncle as being African American.

Here at our daycare we give our dolls names (we have Leila, Luke, Tomas and Chloe) which were all given by my daughter. Leila is blond with blue eyes, Luke has no hair and blue eyes, Tomas has dark brown skin and brown eyes and Chloe has brown eyes and hair. I remember when I got Tomas and asked my daughter to compare him to Leila. She said that Leila was wearing pink and Tomas was wearing blue. It was a proud moment. You'll get there, don't worry.

[kitkat]

I like the idea of giving the dolls each a name. I would let the kids name the dolls. Honestly, I wouldn't give them a name that goes with their culture. Names and they way a person looks (ethnicity wise) don't always match up and I think it's just making an assumption. If you give the doll a name, then you can correct the child if they call it black baby by reminding her what the doll's name is. You can also talk about how this doll is different or similar to that doll and not have to worry about using a certain term.

On a personal note, I am white and my husband is Hmong (an Asian race/culture that was mainly in Laos, but scattered after the Vietnam War). Our kids are bi-racial and have "American" first names & Hmong middle names. DS is almost 6 and still doesn't realize how mom and dad are different from each other. He knows the languages are different, but that's all he's really picked up on. We've tried to discuss it before, but at his age he sees the person and not the skin color. I hope he stays like that because to me, a person's skin color does not define them, their character does.