The Color of Friendship
/I watched a Disney movie, "The Color of Friendship" the other night with my six year old. It was a story set in 1977 about a 14 year old Causasion exchange student from South Africa hosted by an African American family in Washington DC. Long story short, the students had no issues at all but some of the adults did. Trying to explain apartheid to a six year old was interesting yet she got the gist of it very quickly. It was clear to me that she was not buying it at all when she said that every one is different and that she can play with any friend she wants to, except if they are mean to her. She pointed out different skin colors, hair colors, types of houses, favorite colors and on and on. I was, and continue to be, so very proud of her and the little girl she is growing up to be.
Now, if I can only get our adult employees to think, and behave, the same way. The phrase I use often is to "stop acting like children," but I actually want them to be more like our children - PLEASE!