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The mayor of Atlanta told children who want to do something about racism to "keep loving each other," in a message that aired Saturday as part of a Sesame Street town hall on CNN.
"I am so proud of them...and my message to them is just keep being who you are. Keep loving each other and when you see someone who is doing something wrong or saying something wrong, say that it's wrong, " Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said at Coming Together – Standing Up to Racism program in response to questions posed by children about how they can contribute to ending racism.
"Make sure that when your friends sometimes do things that they shouldn't do that you say to them, 'That's not right and you shouldn't do that,' and say it with love and just lead by example," she said.
The mayor was also asked why black people are treated so badly when they contributed so much to building up the country in the first place, a question that African Americans have been trying to answer "for generations."
"What I know is that just like Dr. Martin Luther King had a dream for his four children that they would be judged by the content of their character and not by the color of their skin. We have to continue to dream and hope and work that this country will live up to that," Bottoms said.
The mayor said that the message she gives to her children is that they should reciprocate the treatment they receive from others, but treat them "the way you want to be treated."
"That is what my mother has always told me. So I try and encourage my children in a way to recognize that when someone is being mean and they are being hateful that sometimes they are hurting inside and they don't have any other way to express it," Bottoms said, adding that it's easier said than done.
"I have to remind myself of that a lot because sometimes I get impatient, too...and then sometimes I do something as simple as say a prayer for them. I even heard my 12-year-old son Langston say to me a few days ago that he was in a situation where some kids were being mean and he just prayed for them," Bottoms said.
Demonstrations in Atlanta have been largely peaceful as crowds gathered all around the country to protest over the case of George Floyd, who died in Minneapolis May 25 after now-former police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes. Chauvin has since been charged with murder and manslaughter, and the three other officers present at the time of the incident are also in custody for aiding and abetting murder and manslaughter.
