Do you have a bias whether racial or otherwise, that you are unknowingly passing on to your children?
BREAK THE CYCLE
There are some Samoan phrases/labels we use to refer to people of other countries that may be influencing the way our children perceives ethnicities. Although at times these phrases are said in a jovial manner, it can essentially be quite derogatory. Remember that just because we heard our parents and grandparents use those terms, it doesn't make them acceptable. We can stop that cycle and start to positively influence our children to embrace others.
Children are not born racist. Parents and primary caregivers have the biggest influence on a child in shaping their attitudes and choices. Let us, as parents check our bias and correct it if it really isn't something we want our child(ren) to be learning.
TEACH CULTURAL DIVERSITY
Help your child embrace cultural diversity despite living in a country that isn't multicultural. It doesn't have to happen via an eyeball to eyeball chat but take notice of your child's curiosity and engage in informative conversations with them.
Let your child see you treating others with respect and courteousness
Where possible, widen your social network so that it is inclusive of individuals from other ethnic backgrounds
Encourage them to learn a different language (if they have a foreign nanny, allow the nanny to teach them words and make sure you learn them too)
Cook a variety of cuisines and be prepared to speak to your children about where it originates from
If you have travelled extensively, show your children pictures of your travels and what you found interesting and different
Have toys or children's books that show a diversity in the characters used
CHILDREN SEE COLOUR
Children see colour and this is a wonderful thing. They notice different hair texture, hair colour, eye colour and skin colour. This is something that we should celebrate with our children.
This is a photo of my then two-year-old boy, holding up a character from his playset and excitedly telling me that it was his nanny (who is a lovely Fijian lady and still his current nanny). I'm glad I took this photo because it captures the innocence of a child in being able to see similarities and differences and be able to announce them without any bias.
Check your bias today. I'm checking mine.
