Race as a Hierarchy

Freeman Hrabowski like many other Black and White children was exposed to race and racism when he was young. Black children growing up during the 1960s learned about race while realizing the unfairness of their existence in society. Even without ever meeting a white person Freeman understood that White people lived in a different caste and were viewed as better by society. He knew he was compared to someone he had never met. Being Black was never “neutral” like it could be for White people, it was understood through the lens of racism. Race for Black children was understood as a liability and disadvantage in society.

Children’s exposure to race in the U.S. for years after the establishment of Jim Crow laws was segregation. They knew what White society thought of them (Freeman, 2011). Black children learned the stereotypes along with White children. They knew they were stereotyped as dangerous, unclean, unintelligent etc. Growing up with Jim Crow laws meant they were always reminded of the stereotypes. Every segregated bathroom, water fountain and bus reminded them of their place in society. It reminded them of the cost of the color of their skin. Being Black came at the expense of fair treatment and safety in the United States.

Race and Caste

Black children learned that White society would treat them differently. They also learned that they had to treat White people differently. From being told to call other children “Mister” to having to apologize for things done to them, Black children knew they had to respond in certain ways or risk harm from White people. Even then their “respectful” and “unthreatening” behavior did not protect them from being falsely accused and still punished. Emmert Tills’ murder demonstrated this. It wasn’t just that they were treated like an inferior person by systemic racism, they were expected to act like they were a lower caste. A Black child’s “pride”, “promiscuity” or simple misstep could be punished if perceived as wrongful by a White person.

In the end, Black children’s existence was punished because it threatened the racist power of the White society. They were aware of this and but were taught by their Black community how to protect themselves and protest the racism. They were taught how to reclaim their identity and autonomy. These messages were deeply instilled in the Black culture in the United States since slavery.

Racial Esteem and Empowerment

Songs, religious teaching, the communities’ support, and encouragement of family taught Black pride and self-esteem. Songs like “This Little Light of Mine” were always about self-esteem and protest by determination. Furthermore, children were taught not to allow themselves to feel like victims. Victimhood disempowers. Victimhood centers on your existence as the result of someone else’s actions not your own. Victimhood, therefore, stole from children’s identities and replaced them with an identifier that was the product of White oppression. Therefore even though Black children suffered greatly due to White oppression and racism their parents taught them not to victimize themselves.

Visions of Self

            Despite the proactivity of the Black community to surround children with self-esteem children’s esteem and identities were affected by the segregation and violence they lived through (Coles, 1965). A powerful example of the effects of racist stereotypes on Black children was their drawings. Robert Coles was a psychologist. During the 1960s-1970s, he focused on children’s experiences of the segregation around them. He interviewed the children and asked them to draw pictures of their lives. Over the course of the interviews, the children’s drawings revealed their self-imagery. Ruby was one of the Black children he interviewed. She was sent to a White school to integrate her grade. In her drawings, it was clear that she depicted herself as deformed and smaller compared to her White classmate. Furthermore, when drawing her house and neighborhood, her home and streets were pictured as rundown compared to “White streets” and homes (Coles, 1965).

            It is hard to know how much internalized racism Black children experience due to racism and segregation. However, it is clear their awareness of themselves at times echoed some of the stereotypes and racist representations they witnessed. It is a tragedy when a child feels they are not valuable, unloved, invisible, and a burden to those around them. White oppression forced these messages upon Black children in a way that young children could not always fight and invalidate.

Contradictions and Race

Black children had two messages being instilled about race simultaneously. The contradiction of their Black community telling them they are valuable and important while White society took every opportunity to demean and subordinate them. The contradiction of knowing their own thoughts and person while their identity was assumed by white people through racist stereotypes. Black children had to deal with the severity of the oppression they faced and reason through why. Race to them was realized sooner by necessity. They had to be aware of their Black race and the danger it brought them. That was the death of their innocence. However, their awareness of race allowed them to be active participants in the fight to end segregation. Their participation should be understood as a moment of great pride in the history of African Americans. Read more about “Children’s Participation in the Civil Rights Movement”

Taught to FEAR

            This was the reaction of White teenage girls when Central High School was integrated in 1957. The reason for their hysteria is a long history of racism that comes down to fear. These girls were terrified.

When White adults recount their childhoods during the Civil Rights Movement, they will mention they feared Black children and adults (Frankenberg). They will seldom admit to being racist, but they can say they were afraid. Perhaps, to them being afraid does not make them racist. Young children may not understand how to treat someone as inferior, but they do know how to fear and avoid.

            Pat along with a few other White women was interviewed by Ruth Frankenberg in the 1990s. Frankenberg asked questions about the woman’s experiences of race and how it affected their upbringing. Pat lived in a semi-integrated area mostly because White and Black people lived in the same neighborhoods but often on different streets.

Pat was taught to fear and avoid Black children even though her presence was in reality a threat to Black children. Her fear was racist. Even though she was a child being taught by adults what to think it was fundamentally racist.  The Black children’s jeers were undeniably an act of self-defense as the children wished to ward off White people from their places of safety. Black children were oppressed and threatened by White people. Black children’s fear was necessary for their survival. Read: Violence against Children

Fear also results in fight or flight. Not all White children avoided Black children out of fear. Some White children were taught to react aggressively and violently. Freeman Hrabowski was told by his teacher not to victimize himself. However, White children were taught by White adults to fear Black people and weaponize their victimhood.  Being a victim often gives the right to fight in self-defense even without reason. Teaching fear empowered and motivated racism. Fear isn’t always innocent.

Don’t touch, Don’t talk, Don’t associate

“My mother told me to stay away from you,” proclaimed Jimmie to Ruby, a Black little girl sent to desegregate the school (Coles, pg. 53). His mother’s instruction was likely what most White children were told when they re-entered schools. Jimmie was observed by child psychologist Robert Coles along with Ruby. The children went to sessions with Coles where they talked and drew pictures of their school and their lives. Jimmie was seven years old when he met Ruby. Despite his mother telling him to avoid Ruby at school he disobeyed and became play-mates with her. He was one of the first and few students who befriended Ruby in her years at the school.

Segregation was White children’s exposure to how and what to avoid when it came to “race-mixing”. When White children shared spaces with Black people they were taught the rules of interacting. However, in many cases segregation meant that the children didn’t even interact at all.

Ben Chaney, a young African American boy at the time from Mississippi, recalls not being able to play with his white neighbors anymore once he turned ten.

            Segregation was not just in public spaces. It was enforced by White people in their homes and conversations. White adults separated their children. They made it clear to both Black and White children that this was because of a social hierarchy. They also communicated to White children that it was for their safety. Black children were stereotyped as unclean, dangerous, and stupid in the same way their Black parents were by society. Read: “Media and Stereotypes”.  Children, therefore, were taught not to associate with each other because of this.

 A segregated water fountain meant more than just separate places for Black and White people to drink. Segregated water fountains, pools, hospitals, restaurants, and bathrooms all taught children that Black people were too unclean to touch but especially to share with.

It is evident that fear was one way adults imparted their racism to young children. But the other side effect of the unclean stereotype was disgust.  Disgust like fear breeds hatred. Once White children thought Black children were unclean they would avoid and hate them. The stereotypes of Black people as violent, rapists, and unclean fueled the fear children had. Segregation validated this fear and reinforced its prominence. The older the children became, the more ingrained the stereotypes became and the more racist disgust, fear, and hatred they had.