I sat my kids down today and we spoke about George Floyd and Regis Korchinski-Paquet. We talked about how there are good people and bad people in the world, and sometimes bad people will do harmful things to people with skin the colour of theirs.⠀
We talked about how there are good police officers (some being personal friends) and how there are bad police officers who abuse their power.⠀
We talked about why we won’t let them play with toy guns, even brightly coloured nerf ones, because simply put... they don’t have the same privilege as white kids.⠀
We mentioned the words racism and privilege, black and white, death and dying.⠀
We talked about how we need to love everyone and treat each other with respect. We talked about how we want the world to be a better place, and in order to do that we need to speak up and take a stand against injustices.⠀
Was it a hard conversation? Yes.⠀
Did I want to have it? No.⠀
Was it necessary? Hell yes... and not just because my kids are black.⠀
These conversations need to happen in every home with every child regardless of the colour of their skin.⠀
Our children are the future and the question is... what kind of future do you want your kids to be living in?⠀
If you’re looking for suggestions on where to start with your kids, I shared some books + resources here.