How can I help my child develop wholesome, respectful attitudes toward people of other racial and ethnic groups?
Answer There is no substitute for parental modeling of the attitudes we wish to teach. Someone wrote, “The footsteps a child follows are most likely to be the ones his parents thought they covered up.” It is true. Our children are watching us carefully, and they instinctively imitate our behavior. Therefore we can hardly expect them to be kind to all of God’s children if we are prejudiced and rejecting. Likewise, we will be unable to teach appreciativeness if we never say please or thank you at home or abroad. We will not produce honest children if we teach them to lie to the bill collector on the phone by saying, “Dad’s not home.” In these matters, our boys and girls instantly discern the gap between what we say and what we do. And of the two choices, they usually identify with our behavior and ignore our empty proclamations. If you never speak derogatorily about racial minorities, and if you absolutely will not tolerate racist jokes and slurs, your children will not fail to notice. I
