1 Woman's "Unintentional" Reason For Not Putting Her Daughter's Hair in Braids Should Make Us All Think

When Brigette Diez Kerr's daughter approached her about having her hair braided just like her best friend at school, she was apprehensive about giving her second grader her desired hairstyle, at first, because of the criticism that could come with it.

"I didn't give my daughter braids that morning. Instead, I told her we didn't have time. That was a lie," said Kerr. "It was MY fear of my daughter getting teased due to the stereotypes that we place on each other and how others perceive them that kept me from giving her braids that morning."

After some careful reflection, Kerr realized that as parents we sometimes push our fears onto our kids without realizing it:

My pastor just spoke this past Sunday morning of intentional and unintentional racism. I am by no means intentionally racist. I have dear friends and coworkers I love that are of many ethnicities. But was MY fear of my daughter being stereotyped a form of UNintentional racism?! I WAS CONVICTED! How dare I push MY fear, my UNintentional racism, onto my daughter who sees no color, no stereotype, no hate, no "white girl hairstyle" or "black girl hairstyle?" She only sees pretty hair on her best friend. She shows love to ALL people without hesitation.

And although Kerr admits her attempt at smaller braids didn't come without challenges, her daughter went to school with the hairstyle she'd been pining for:

"My daughter got her braids this morning. They weren't perfect . . . I tried my very best. And she was SO PROUD! Her smile was from ear to ear this morning and she couldn't wait to get to school to show her best friend. She wanted to take a picture with her best friend this morning because they were twins."

Kerr is hoping her post will inspire people to be kinder to one another — and we couldn't agree more. "We are called to love our neighbor as ourselves! Let's do a better job of showing this love."