Real question, i need real advice. please do not report me. warning-race issue?

Question

ok, the reason why i asked my last question is because i needed opinions. unfortunately i didn't receive a lot.

i was at the mall with my 7 year old sister. we were at the food court and she asks me. "Do black people know that they are not smart? or do they realize it when they grow up?" this embarassed me like a mother, for some people who were walking by heard her ask me.

ahem.. now i was thinking long and hard about this on my way home and i can't get around it. this girl has noticed something that people don't usually think about until they are grown. by then, you don't even have to deal with it. but she is 7 years old and now i'm afraid i have to be involved. now the question is..

do i tell her the sad and cold hearted truth of the I.Q. statistics and go from there? but i don't want her to grow up rasict and mistreat people thinking that she is better.

or

do i keep her from information like that and tell her that all man is really created equal? but i don't want to feed her lies i don't want her to be an airhead, i want her to know her modern days updated science.

what do i do??

Answer 1

just tell her that race isn't the only indicator of how smart someone is. Bring up people like martin luther king. She's too young to hear statistics..she should be taught not to judge someone based on their physical appearance  

Answer 2

First of all, I would ask her where she got the idea that black people aren't smart.  Then I would tell her that race has nothing to do with it, there are smart and dumb people of all races.  Also, ask her what her definition of smart is.  I know someone who is literally a rocket scientist but he can't change a tire.  And I work with very educated people who can't spell to save their lives.  So what is smart?  Intelligence and aptitude are not the same as smart.

Answer 3

she just has to understand that people are different and the color of a persons skin has no effect on their intelligence. Some white people are dumb as rocks and some black people are brilliant. statistics in this case are stupid and if you show your kid this she will grow up thinking that she is better than other races.... and thats not true

Answer 4

Tell her that it's not okay to call people dumb, and that there are some very smart people of ALL colors. Don't sugar coat anything, but don't make it too hard, cold, or mean.

Answer 5

Tell her everyone's created equal, because that's the truth. It's just that some people know more than others, no matter their race.

Answer 6

This is a wonderful chance for you to teach your sister some critical thinking skills.

Instead of just telling her about stats, ask her questions.

"What makes you think black people are not smart?"  When she tells you, ask her to think about how she came to think this.  Does she know some black kids who don't seem intelligent?  That's a generalization.  Has she heard it from others?  That's what happens when we listen to opinions w/o checking them out.  Does she see this in the media?  The media is not reliable.

She is lucky to have you for a big sister.  Good for you!

All the best.

Answer 7

My opinion: She is 7. She needs to understand that although she may notice differences in people that doesn't make any one race or gender better or worse than the other. I am not racist to say the least but I came from a family where there was deff. some prejudice. I am white and I married a hispanic man. I couldn't be happier. Children will be children and you can't always control what comes out of their mouthes... My 4 year old step son suprises me all the time with the observations he makes. And we don't always know how to handle them.

My suggestion is that you teach her that all people are different. Some are better at certain things then others but making generalizations about one particular race, religion or gender is not nice. She will grow to form her own opinions. But I wouldn't want to have helped cause my younger sibling or child to become racist or prejudice of others.  

Answer 8

You want her to treat each person as an individual, not a group.  So you tell her that her conclusions are mistaken.  There are plenty of smart people and plenty of dumb people, and plenty in between from each race, color, and ethnicity.

Answer 9

Ok first of all, (to most of the previous answers) we are NOT all treated equally.

Nature and Nurture both play a part in the person we turn out to be.

Think about it, we couldn't clap our hands with just one hand.

If a set of twins were both adopted by different families, one extremely successful and one not so much (to put it nicely), which twin do you think will be more successful?

Now that has NOTHING to do with race but I do understand your concern.

Tell her that intelligence has nothing to do with race.

Tell her that there are intelligent black people just like there are PLENTY of stupid white people.

It's just a matter of where you grew up and how your parents raised you.

Answer 10

what exactly where you going to tell her? there are people from all races that are very intelligent. not just white people or asians are blessed with high IQ's you need to be very careful with this because all though you said you aren't racist you sound racist and if you where raised to  believe that only white people are smart then you need to be re educated. I would tell her that all color people are smart and she should never judge someone by their skin color.

Answer 11

I would ask her what makes her think that black people are not smart.  I would want to know who/what is influencing her in such a negative way.  Then I would explain that there are many smart black people in the world...Barak Obama, Condolisa Rice etc. and that people aren't smart or dumb because of the color of their skin.   Just for record, I am white.

Answer 12

Racist or not, i think you should tell her what you believe, cos you obv believe that for a reason. and this is with everything. I'm gonna raise my child like i would want to be raised and like how i have, but i don't know any different x

edit: asians have a higher iq than white people, sorry not bein racist, you should come to where i live, there little s*its lol x

Answer 13

wow. where is this child hearing these things. everyone is created equal. there is no difference between black and white everyone chooses how to spend their lives an.d everyone makes good and bad decisions in their lives. i would explain that to her. no need to go into further detail then that

Answer 14

So its ok for her to think black people are not intelligent but you "don't want her to think we are dumb as well" You thinking you are smarter than someone due to the color of your skin just shows how ignorant you are.

Statistics can back any survey given it just depends on the group of people tested. There is no way they know 100% which race is more intelligent they have not tested everyone. You should not believe everything you read!

Leave this to your parents, you yourself need a good talk from your parents in my opinion.

Answer 15

I would tell her the statistics, but be careful that you mention this is just an average, and that a lot of black people are just as clever as anyone else.

Tell her that it dousnt mean that we are better than them, and that 'man is created equal' and the rest of what you said. Tell her that there is lots if thick white people also, there just happends to be more thick black people.

Sorry if i didnt make much sense, but i hope i helped! Good luck!! =D  

Answer 16

Why would you even consider telling her statistics? There are tons of black people who are far more intelligent than you will ever be. I'm not saying this to be rude, it is the COLD HEARTED TRUTH.

God, some people...

Everyone has an equal chance at inteligence, and if you tell your daughter anything else that makes you a racist. It isn't a lie. Ugh, you make me mad.

Edit: This is the reason I keep thinking about homeschooling Alyssa. I don't want her to grow up around racist people. I lost my best friend in elementary school because my grandma was racist and wouldn't let black kids play at our house.

Answer 17

Although I can kind of see where she got that because of certain stereotypes, you definitely must tell her that everyone is equal, and that intelligence is based on an individual level, not by race or gender. Some whites are smarter than blacks; some blacks are smarter than whites; some Asians are smarter than both of those races, and so forth. We cannot judge and place all black people in the "dumb" category, because that is definitely not where they belong. Hope this helps in your explaining!

Answer 18

explain to her that black people are like the rest of us and their no different than any one else and they should be treated equal

Answer 19

Tell her what you think is best. I don't necessarily believe that black people aren't smart, I think is a choice they make to speak unproper english and use big words they don't know the meaning of. I don't think its fair to say they aent smart, they choose to be that way.

Answer 20

Hi, first of all I am white and I test for a 135 IQ. But still, I don't believe in IQ and I don't believe in many, many statistics. They have a way of fooling with us. Let's just say they test 100 black people in a poor, under scholarized neighboorhod. Then they go to Harvard and test 100 white guys. Stats would probably favor the white guys. But then again, if you test really randomly, from different places, I'm pretty sure white and black would have a similar result... This is why I don't believe in statistics. Now, why don't I believe in IQs? Well those questions oftenly require a minimal knowledge and they do not really test intelligence as much as logic and testing capacities. Some people are not good with tests. Dot. Did you know that Einstein failed his math classes, during high school? Would you say he was... not intelligent? Well maybe the way we define intelligence is still inefficient.

Now, back to the main matter... I have a couple of black friends. I met most of them during classes, at the U. Just saying most of the black people I know are very intelligent --if not, they wouldn't end up with a university degree, would they?

Tell your sister everyone is equal... ;) This way, at least, she won't end up being judgemental...