Portland observer., March 29, 2000, Page 18, Image 18

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March 29, 2000
focus
In Print
Prosecutors Will Be Violated;
I’m Chocolate, You’re Vanilla;
Raising Healthy Black and Biracial
Children in a Race-Conscious World
by Marguerite A. Wright
Jossey Bass Publishers; 1998
MYTH: Black and biracial children
dislike their race from the time they
are preschoolers.
REALITY: Young black and
biracial children are unable to
understand racial prejudice. In fact,
developmentally they are incapable
of understanding the concept o f
race.
A child’s concept of race is quite
different from that o f an adult.
Young children perceive skin color
as magical - even changeable - and
unlike adults, are incapable of
understanding the mature concepts
surrounding race and racism. Just
as children leam to walk and talk,
they likewise come to understand
race in a series of predictable stages.
Based on Dr. M arguerite A.
W right’s research and clinical
experience working as a child
psychologist,I'mChocolate, You're
Vanilla teaches us that the color
blindness of early childhood can,
and must, be taken advantage of in
order to guide the positive
Ifcrttarò (fìbeeruer
development o f a child’s self­
esteem.
I'm Chocolate, You're Vanilla is
filled with practical, positive, and
creative ideas for handling common
situations such as what to do when
your child says she wants a white
doll; how to deal with relatives and
friends who com pare your
children’s skin colors and hair
textures; and how to discipline your
children so that they can grow up
with self respect. Teachers will gain
valuable insights about how
preconceptions can contribute to a
child’s success or failure and how
to handle discipline problems in the
classroom.
Wright answers some fundamental
questions about children and race
including
What do children know and
understand about the color of their
skin?
When do children understand
the concept of race?
Are there warning signs that a
child is being adversely affected by
racial prejudice?
no
Matter What Crime You Committed, It’s Not Your Fault
by Archibald Spencer
Trigance Press; 2000
People outside the Afro-American
community are finally waking up to
the fact that we have several levels
of justice in this country, the top
level for the rich, the second level
for the ordinary white citizen, and
the bottom level for blacks.
Wait until you see how California
attorney Ashley Blackwood handles
his cases. Follow the trials of Henri
Laval, the murderous hockey star,
Ramona Krafft, who videotaped the
mutilation ofher husband’s private
parts, and “Machine-Gun” Marty
Vickers, the postal employee who
left a trail of dead and dying on the
streets of San Francisco.
Ashley’s senior associate, Knute
Rockne Olson, thinks Ashley’s a
great man. What do you think/ Hold
tight as Archie Spencer takes you
on a satirical joyride through
California’s criminal justice system.
“I had to write it,” Archie Spencer
says o f P rosecutors W ill Be
Violated. “After the Simpson,
Menendez, and Bobbitt cases, I
realized that our money and media-
driven society had created a criminal
justice system in its own image, one
that shouted for satirical treatment.”
PROSECUTORS
WILL BE
VIOLATED
A Silk« by
Archibald Spacer
(S i g n i f i c a n t
E xcellence
R e l ia b l e
V e r a c io u s
I M P D E Ó S l VE
C
E
Marguerite A. W-igh:
l e g a n t
For r e s e r v a tio n
&
in fo r m a tio n
p lea se ca ll:
Raising Healthy Black and Biracial
Children in a Race-Conscious W orld
A Guide for Parents and Te3chers
o n s id e r a t e
Q^eiy Ö wn -Cimo S e ïv vice
i
(503)
640-0251