Dear Editor,
I was a student in the public schools of rural Georgia during segregation and integration. And yes, there were some difficult days. But here I am today, no mental illness, PTSD, or hatred in my heart. Why?
Because my parents instructed us on the real cause of hatred, war, crime and death. The cause is “SIN” not people! We were taught that there was one race and that was the HUMAN RACE; but we are infected with this condition called sin. So, we learned to hate sin and what it caused, but not people. How do parents explain Segregation, Integration, Slavery, The Holocaust, The Inquisition or the Trail of Tears. You explain it in the light of living in a world of people that are infected with sin which makes them do evil things. And let’s be clear, Civil rights are human rights! As we teach our children to share, to not lie, to not fight, etc.; we teach them that we treat people like we want to be treated and that all people are equal. And we have the Declaration of Independence to remind us, but God had already told us that He is no respecter of persons and that we are all one in Christ! If we are not confronted with the truth of our evil hearts, we will never feel the need to repent and change. As a country we have made mistakes, but what a perfect time to talk about them, learn from them, so we don’t repeat them.
And God has provided a remedy for this problem of sin. The answer is found in Christ. He is the only one that can change our evil hearts.
The following books, Ready to Fly, When Marian Sings, and Ruby Bridges Goes to School, share the true stories of children who experienced some of the difficulties of segregation, but were not discouraged or filled with hate. They are stories of resilience.
The stories are designed to encourage everyone to preserver and thrive despite apparent obstacles. The books Starry Messenger and Amos and Boris seemed a little bit more advanced for 3rd grade. But parents should always read the book before the child does.
And if this is done, you can share the truth in love about how Galileo was treated because of his ideas which did not follow cultural or religious norms. You can also clarify things that may be misunderstood, like fear of death.
Let’s continue to allow our children to read and enjoy books without labeling them with the preconceived ideas of some.
Sincerely, Lillie Hill
