Bunchland

We talked to New York Public Library children’s librarian Betsy Bird

What should parents do to teach their kids more about MLK and Civil Rights?

Reading books is the number one best way. Ask your local libraries for the best books as there are always new ones coming out. Use the day off as an opportunity to talk to your kids and make sure they know their own history. But the bottom line is, just do it. Some parents are uncomfortable talking about what people had to put up with before Civil Rights. And there are a lot of violent images associated with the Civil Rights Movement— police setting dogs and fire hoses on peaceful protesters, Dr. King’s assassination, but these are important points of our history.

How do you introduce the topic of Civil Rights to kids?

You really need to cover the basics. Introduce subjects that kids can understand and introduce them in a new way. When I was first learning about the Underground Railroad, I was under the impression that it was a real railroad — it took some time for me to understand what it was and how it worked. Kids sometimes take things literally, so you really need to go back to basics: people were treated differently because of their skin colour.

How does this approach differ when we’re talking about different ages?

It depends on how much the kids can handle. Explain what the situation was, but without scaring them: Things were unfair, if your skin was one colour, you weren’t allowed certain places, et cetera.

From what you’ve seen, do kids generally understand why they’re home from school today?

I think kids have a good idea as to who Martin Luther King is and why his birthday is important, but it really depends on the teachers. In New York City, you can’t find an MLK book in any of the libraries — they just fly off the shelves like hotcakes.

What sorts of questions and comments do you get from kids about MLK?

Generally, kids latch onto a certain aspect of the MLK and Civil Rights story and you’ll get an interesting array of comments. Some kids just know he was shot and now they get a day off school.  Uncomfortable or not, you need to answer their questions as best you can.

1969 Postal Stamp from the U.S. Embassy New Delhi via Flickr