Benjamin Jancewicz, 31, with his son, Arion, 6, of Baltimore, MD. Benjamin: I understand the thought behind not talking about race and not talking about everything that’s going on. But that’s a conversation that the rest of the world is having and I want them to be prepared. They need to be able to respond and they need to be able to articulate themselves. And know who they are so that nobody else can question who they are.
NBC BLACK
The photos and quotes were kinda beautiful. And the white men were a lot more realistic than I thought they'd be. My own bias showing.
I guess see more of white women. Those who have black children seem to be investigating what the world is going to be like for their child and seek to adjust their own attitudes rather immediately, do whatever is necessary to protect them. Not all. But I've seen racial perspective begin to dawn for many white women the second their dark-skinned child is born.
Maybe I think of white men (most men) as deciding to subdue the world, bend the world into the shape they want. This seems a lot less conducive to changing ones mind, to adapting ones world view in order to adjust to a changing reality. I was worried that the men would hold onto the colorblind ideal (or worse) that they grew up with. And maybe some did. Quotes were short.
It's hard to tell what the race conversation should be like when kids are but so little. How early one should have it might depend on how pale and/or white featured the children are, how muted the differences are between them and the majority of children they will attend school with, maybe?
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/living-color-fathers-talk-their-bi-racial-sons-n286386 photos by Andre Chung. They're beautiful. You should check them out
Then again squared, maybe a white man or white woman who marries/adopts a black person is more flexible of mind from the jump.
The man who wondered if he should move back to England to keep his son safe almost made me cry.
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