As homeschoolers, we have a unique opportunity to teach our kids about racism through the lens of our Catholic faith. I will start out by acknowledging that I am far from perfect in this area! I will also acknowledge that the Catholic church, while having good teachings on social justice, hasn't always gotten it right, either.
My kids are almost all done with homeschooling and I know that there are many things I could have done more intentionally in regards to the topic of racism. I'm guessing that you're here because you are not almost done homeschooling and you'd like some ideas of how you can be intentional.
Here are just a few ways that you can incorporate the beautiful diversity of our faith into your lessons on a more intentional basis.
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Use Your Read Aloud Time to Learn
Reading aloud has been something everyone looks forward to, no matter how old my kids have been.
I always choose our read aloud books with a purpose:
- either because they fit with a certain topic we're studying or
- the book teaches an important lesson I want my kids to learn.
Many times I pick a book on a Saint because we can learn about various important topics as well as learn important lessons. It is so wonderful that our Catholic faith is so diverse. We have Saints from so many races and nations. This is a great way to learn about how other people have lived so that we can begin the discussion of how they should be treated.
It also allows us to begin teaching the importance of seeing others how God sees us: Made in His image and likeness - regardless of the color of our skin.
This is such an important discussion to have over and over again. Learning about how People of Color have been mistreated (yes, even by the Catholic church) over the centuries is a fundamental lesson that needs to be taught.
More importantly, though, is to teach your kids that racism is a sin and that we need to love ALL our neighbors as we love ourselves.
Some Saints of Color to Learn About
Here is a list of Saints to get you started. When possible, I've linked to books that might be good for reading out loud. As you plan for the coming school year, consider scheduling some of these in.
These Saints weren't people of color but they worked tirelessly during their lives to help them:
- St. Katherine Drexel
- St. Peter Claver
There are many more black Saints that might not have books written about them. Research together and discuss the lives and virtues of these great Blesseds and Saints of the church.
Other Resources
Lately I've been following Meg Hunter-Kilmer on Facebook and she's been posting a lot about many of the black Saints and Blesseds. If you're okay with Facebook, here are the topics of her various posts (you'll have to search her feed for them as it wouldn't let me link to them individually):
- Modern Black Saints
- Black Saints who were religious leaders
- Royal Black Saints
- Early African Saints
How about podcasts? I just found out about a husband and wife who do 10 to 15 minute podcasts on American History that are wonderful. They have four podcasts that you should add to your study on black Catholics.
These are great to listen to during your morning time, snack break or while eating lunch. Each podcast has other resources listed that are helpful, too.
Other Ideas
Using our Catholic faith to teach our children about people of other races (I don't like that distinction as we're all part of the human race, but it will have to do for clarity) and nations is a great way to start the discussion of racism and why it is wrong.
In order to know why something is wrong, we need to learn about it. Learning about black history and the lives of black people in the church will help us to teach our kids that racism is a sin and everyone is created in the image and likeness of God.
If we want to put an end to this inequality, we need to learn to love our neighbor as ourselves. Teach your children that the color of someone's skin does not define their status as a human, and then teach them to love others as God loves them.
There are so many ways we can learn these important lessons and so many resources available that this is obviously a very limited list. This list is meant to get you started if you're looking for a way to get going. From here, feel free to branch out in whatever direction the Holy Spirit leads you!