News Archives

U.N. panel discusses impact of racism on children

6/13/2001 News media contact: Linda Bloom · (646) 369-3759 · New York

UNITED NATIONS (UMNS) - Esperance M.K. Kayombo, a native of the Democratic Republic of Congo, had her first experience with racism at birth.

The nurse refused to assist in what was to be a difficult delivery because Kayombo's mother was from a different part of that African country than the nurse. The baby survived anyway, earning the name Esperance, which means "hope."

As she grew up, Kayombo learned that her background - the tribe she was from, the languages she spoke, and the region where she lived - influenced what happened in every aspect of her life.

Now a United Methodist missionary assigned to the United Nations, Kayombo was one of the speakers at a June 12 panel discussion on the "Impact of Racism, Discrimination and Ethnocentrism on Children Around the World" at the United Nations. The program was co-sponsored by the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries and the Working Group on the Rights of the Child of the NGO (nongovernmental) Committee on UNICEF.

The discussion was one of many taking place during the preparatory meeting for the U.N. Special Session on Children. A follow-up to the 1990 World Summit on Children, the special session is considered an "unprecedented meeting" of the U.N. General Assembly, bringing together government leaders and heads of state, NGO representatives, children's advocates and children themselves at the United Nations in September.

Melba Smith, staff with the Women's Division of the Board of Global Ministries, moderated the June 12 panel. The discussion was planned, in part, "to generate dialogue that increases the awareness of the impact of racism on children," she explained.

Kayombo recalled how her background, not her academic skills, determined what schools she attended and even the teachers she had. "In school, the first question is, 'Where are you from?'" she said.

Ethnic and regional connections also applied to university life, obtaining a job and even selecting friends, she added.

Even today, after years of war, with peace in the Congo "on paper" rather than a reality, "people live by race, and the victims are children," Kayombo said.

In South Africa, children still suffer from the aftermath of the apartheid years, as well as the new scourge of HIV/AIDS "that has affected every aspect of our lives," according to Padigail Meskin, chairperson of the World Conference on Religion and Peace in Durban.

She also is program facilitator of the Children's Rights Movement, which is launching a pilot curriculum in South African schools to help "come to terms with the violence, racism, prejudice and discrimination that still exist in our country today."

In the United States, institutional racism and the pressure on immigrant cultures to assimilate have a negative effect on children, especially through the school system. E. Valerie Smith, a clinical social worker and sociology professor at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, said an understanding of cultural differences would help remedy the problem.

As an example, she cited a University of Michigan study that compared how African-American and white students react when accused of lying by a teacher. "The responses were exactly the opposite," she explained.

If not guilty of lying, the African-American child would argue vehemently with the teacher, but would not argue if the accusation were true. The white child, however, would put up an argument if guilty, but not argue if innocent of lying.

Dorothy Davis, staff with the United Nations Development Programmes, recalled how her father, who worked abroad for the U.S. government, filed a lawsuit after she was rejected entrance by several New Jersey schools because she was African-American. But Davis didn't know about her parents' fight against discrimination at the time. She only knew she suffered from the racist attitudes of her teacher.

Davis encouraged "open and honest communications" between parents and children about racism and its effects on their lives.

The Special Session on Children will review progress on a variety of issues affecting children's lives since the last world summit in 1990. World leaders also will be asked "to identify strategic solutions to the problems facing children and to commit the critical human and economic resources that will be called for," according to the U.N. mandate.

At its conclusion, a global agenda with a set of goals and plan of action is expected to be adopted to ensure three essential outcomes:

Â· The best possible start in life for all children.

Â· A good quality, basic education for all children.

Â· The opportunities for all children, especially adolescents, for meaningful participation in their communities.

The UNICEF Web site, www.unicef.org, has more information on the Special Session on Children.

Back : News Archives 2001 Main