'My dad will not let me go to your sleepover because you're black': Girl receives note from friend
Harmony Jones had invited several friends to a sleepover for her birthday party, but one of her friends wrote a letter in response explaining why she couldn’t come. It turns out her father might not let her go simply because Harmony is black.
“Maybe I will not be able to go to your birthday sleepover because my dad will not let me go because you are black,” the letter said.
When Harmony’s father, Christopher Jones, saw the letter, he was shocked.
“It angered me a little bit, it hurt me that my 10-year-old girl had to deal with this, and I myself never thought I would have to deal with this,” he said to WREG.
Still, he did not blame his daughter’s friend, noting instead that it was her father’s fault for instilling racist lessons in someone so young. “I guess us as parents need to be more aware and conscious about what we teach our children,” he said.
Civil rights activist Lasimba Gray called the letter “regrettable” and said that it was an example of how racism continues to persist despite the advances made by the Civil Rights and other movements. “Fifty-two years since the Dr. King “I have a dream speech,” you would think that the basis for racism would disappear, but evidently it is being perpetuated by those who teach it,” Gray said.
“Every child has a blank canvas when they come into the world,” Gray said, noting that racism has to be taught.
