{"id":4454,"date":"2021-07-10T12:35:59","date_gmt":"2021-07-10T16:35:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/?p=4454"},"modified":"2021-07-11T08:04:17","modified_gmt":"2021-07-11T12:04:17","slug":"a-book-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2021\/07\/10\/a-book-report\/","title":{"rendered":"A Book Report"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Not My Idea<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

So it\u2019s Sunday, and lots of times I write a \u201cSunday Story\u201d about my experiences.  This isn\u2019t one of them.  Today\u2019s story is about a book, a children\u2019s book as a matter of fact.  It\u2019s titled:  Not My Idea – A Book About Whiteness<\/em>; written by Anastasia Higgenbotham.  Maybe instead of calling this a \u201cSunday Story\u201d, I should be calling it my \u201cSunday Book Report\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is an illustrated kid’s book, that took me about ten minutes to read,\u00a0and\u00a0it\u2019s being hammered in the crazed right-wing media.\u00a0\u00a0They are screaming \u2013 it\u2019s \u201cracist, critical race theory, propaganda\u201d aimed at kids.\u00a0\u00a0I wasn\u2019t sure what to think about that, but I knew I had to read the book to find out.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get Uncomfortable<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

And I get why the right-wing media finds the book more than uncomfortable.  This is a book directed at white children in America.  It starts with the title \u2013 what\u2019s \u201cnot my idea\u201d?  And the answer to that question from the very first page is that racism and white supremacy is not the child\/reader\u2019s idea.  It\u2019s an idea that existed long before that child came into being, and it\u2019s not theirs.  They don\u2019t have to accept it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It helps to know that the author uses the term \u201cwhiteness\u201d to cover all of the racist advantages of being white in our society, versus being a person of color.\u00a0\u00a0Being \u201cwhite\u201d is not a thing, it is a fact.\u00a0\u00a0But \u201cwhiteness\u201d is using that being white to unfairly benefit over people of color.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The book is uncomfortable to read if you\u2019re a white adult.\u00a0\u00a0It calls you out on the concept that you can be \u201ccolor blind\u201d, and then pretend everything is OK.\u00a0\u00a0Everything is not OK \u2013 and pretending just allows for racism to continue.\u00a0\u00a0But it also offers a form of forgiveness.\u00a0\u00a0Racism is \u201cinherent\u201d in our nation, from the beginning.\u00a0\u00a0You weren\u2019t born a racist, but you were born in a nation that rewarded some races and punished others, and still does.\u00a0\u00a0That\u2019s not your fault.\u00a0\u00a0What IS your fault is what you do about it.\u00a0\u00a0That\u2019s where complicity in racism begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Absolution<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

But the white child, the target of this book, is born without blame. They see racist interactions in our society \u2013 whether it\u2019s George Floyd under the knee of a policeman, or white insurrectionists allowed into the Capitol but Black Lives Matter protestors tear gassed. And this book explains the racism they cannot help but see \u2013 and calls on the adults in the child\u2019s life to do the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The message to those adults is that telling white children \u201cYou don\u2019t need to worry about this\u201d or \u201cOur family is kind to everyone, we don\u2019t see color,\u201d isn\u2019t the answer to racism.  Because children will see racism: from how their friends of color are treated by society, to what they see in the news.  The author\u2019s message: \u201cRacism isn\u2019t only happening to Black and brown people.  Racism is a white person\u2019s problem \u2013 and we are all caught up in it\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The book goes onto explain how society perpetuates racism, whiteness, and how many white people ignore the problem.  But it also highlights those historic white and Black people who have worked to stop racism, from the Abolitionist Grimke sisters in the 1830\u2019s, up to Colin Kaepernick today.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it calls on the children to do something about racism \u2013 by recognizing it continues, and that white people still benefit from it. It defines racism as \u201cwhiteness\u201d, and tells the child \u201c\u2026you can be white, without signing on to \u2018whiteness\u2019\u201d. The first way to do this is to gain knowledge \u2013 as the author says \u201cInnocence is overrated\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This isn\u2019t the first illustrated \u201cchildren\u2019s\u201d book that comes with a strong political message.\u00a0\u00a0Maus\u00a0<\/em>by Art Spiegelman was always in my classroom.\u00a0\u00a0It is a graphic novel about the Holocaust, with the Jews as mice and the Nazis as cats.\u00a0\u00a0Maus\u00a0<\/em>was a tool to explain the Holocaust without the raw horror of first person accounts like\u00a0Night\u00a0<\/em>by Elie Wiesel (though that book was always in my classroom as well).\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Dangerous Book<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

But in today\u2019s world Not My Idea \u2013 A Book About Whiteness <\/em>would be \u201cdangerous\u201d to have in a classroom.  Dangerous for the teacher, in an era when white adults are demanding the suppression of \u201cchange\u201d.  Dangerous because school administrators and school boards are unwilling to take up the fight against racism directly with their parents.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is so much controversy already \u2013 from testing to taxes. Not My Idea<\/em> would put the issue of racism square up-front. We are in a world already polarized by vaccinations and anti-vaxxers, Black Lives Matter and Blue Live Matter, Insurrectionists and everyone else \u2013 all in the community and all screaming their message. There are so many who are demanding that we can\u2019t discuss \u201cideas\u201d that go against the grain. Not My Idea <\/em>would put the teacher, the administrator, and the school on the right side of the fight, but directly in the crosshairs for attack. It\u2019s not hard to see why they wouldn\u2019t have the \u201cstomach\u201d for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But if you are a white parent wanting help explaining to your white child how their friends of color face a different world, then Not My Idea <\/em>would be a great tool.  And if you are a person who still thinks that \u201ceverything\u2019s equal now\u201d, maybe you should read it for yourself.  Racism wasn\u2019t your idea, but it\u2019s now your responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n