Racism starts at home

It was Friday, Sep 14th, 2012. As usual, I was making my way out from the busy downtown core to pick my son from the daycare. He was in kindergarten.

Being a very anxious first-time parent, I remember reading a dozen parenting books so I can frame the right questions with my 5-year-old during pick-up time just to assess if there are any red flags. Things were going well during the mommy and son Q & A on that day. Until my son mentioned that one of his white peers refused to play with him, as his peer was asked by his parents to stay away from the brown kid(s). Innocence at its best.

I remember pulling up the car, got out, and hugged my son so tightly in the middle of the road- while he was still tied up in his car seat and feeling all perplexed.

Both for me and his dad, the emotional turmoil and anger are still there. The fear lingers on.

We may not always think it or feel it, but as parents, we are the most influential people in our children's lives.

We can lead our children to believe that they count more than others because of their social position, and in doing this, we are sowing the seeds of Racism; we are in effect telling our children that some other people are not entitled to the same rights and chances that we are. The message they get from us is that it is okay to be racist, and we give them a license to validate their future racist behavior.

Kids are na?ve. They love all their friends. Period! Children of different nationalities will play together without problems. However, when Racism comes into the picture, it is we, the adults, who model it for our children. Whether it is through naked prejudice, arrogance, or racist jokes, we adults are the ones who create the barriers and the culture of disrespect and inequality, which separate people as children and, later, as adults.

Our fears, often baseless and fuelled by others, drive us to hatred of our fellow human beings and to promoting injustice.

I believe that we really should think about and discuss the subject of Racism within our families, with our friends, and in our communities. We hear much talk about government policy, but Racism starts with us, parents, and other adults. We can ask ourselves questions about where we stand on Racism.

Would we like our children to be the subjects of racist behavior and attitudes if they decide to go and work and live abroad?

"Racism is cancer in a community or a society, and it starts with the individual and the family. "- Unknown.

This is about the future of our children — and our children are our future.

Racism in Canada is ever-present, but we have a long history of denial. It's tempting for Canadians to fall back on the idea that we're not as racist as our neighbors. I will ask you to step back and think again.

Racism starts at home. Let's teach our children that being human is the only thing that matters, not color. In the end, we're all in this together. I will continue to raise awareness via my work here at Unmute. You are welcome to join in.

Priyanka Mehandiratta

Founder and CEO, Unmute

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