Bigotry, violence and misogyny are wrong values to teach children

I would prefer that children learn our Founding Fathers were brilliant but flawed men who were, at the same time, slaveowners than students learn our 45th president bragged about grabbing women inappropriately and fomenting an insurrection.

I would rather they learned about Frederick Douglass, MLK and Emmett Till than learn to think of Blacks as inferiors and of immigrants as rapists. I prefer they learn the vote was denied to many Americans over how women’s bodies can be used like breeding cattle. I’d rather they understand the Second Amendment’s actual meaning than to learn how to hide from gunmen in their schools. I want an education for them that grows stronger and more honest even when facts are as ugly as some of the current bigotry and prejudices.

Bigotry, violence and misogyny threaten to lead our youngsters to believe the polar opposite of the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount, of humankind’s major religions, of “liberty and justice for all.” Children often emulate powerful influencers.

I was a kid during World War II. Children fought mock wars against “Krauts” and “Japs” and sometimes “Indians.” Our counting chant included the N-word. The mud balls we threw were less harmful than the words we used, and it took my generation far too long to stop insulting otherness. Our heedless words became harmful to ourselves as well as to our community. The stories we learned influenced the lives we lived.

Time has intervened; we changed. We understand we can help new generations continue this growth toward better communities only through honesty, a clear-headed look at our past, and the examples we set of respect for others who may seem different from us but are fundamentally all fellow humans.

Social change comes slowly; learning is gradual — who notices when the first leaf of autumn turns gold? But suddenly change is all around. My first teaching job was in a segregated school in northern Ohio — segregated by red-lining. These were children of the Great Migration whose parents had left the Jim Crow South only to find life incredibly difficult in the North. My classes, for example, used old textbooks discarded by the mostly white schools.

Meanwhile, in the South, cops were using dogs and water cannons on their left-behind relatives. Change worked away at that terrible wrong; more change will come — as it should unless our democracy is actually hypocrisy. Change and truthfulness will make us all better. My last teaching job taught me education has become more inclusive and accurate, and how clear-eyed and generous well-informed students can be.

While autumn’s leaves fall, many elementary classes will still make Pilgrim hats and draw turkeys around their hands. But many are also learning about the Wampanoag tribe whose homeland the Pilgrim immigrants invaded. I’ve seen lesson plans that include these indigenous peoples, and give even young children an opportunity to respect them and to understand our founding was, in part, based on callous disregard for that way of life.

As this generation of children grows to adulthood, a fuller understanding of our history will give them a fuller understanding of our nation and a fuller understanding of the human condition. They can learn about slavery in ways that are truthful; kids can always spot dishonesty and we do them a disservice if we think otherwise. The stories they are learning will influence the lives they live.

It’s really hard to cut through all the noise of political rhetoric; I’d rather be admiring the autumn leaves. If a political speech seems to want to scare you, or insult others, it probably doesn’t want you to think. Politicians who demean and insult others will also demean and insult you — after they have your donations and your vote.

We all have the opportunity to grow closer to the “golden rule.” We all can be be too well-informed to insult women or deny anyone their humanity. Misogyny and bigotry are an ugly blight that damages the autumn beauty of our lovely state. Let’s rake them to the gutter.

Sharon Kourous is a member of Stronger together Huddle, a group engaged in supporting and promoting the common good of all. She resides in Monroe can be reached at mcneil102@icloud.com.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Sharon Kourous: Bigotry, violence are wrong values to teach children