“Isn’t it better if my kids just don’t notice race?”
“I just want my kid to treat everyone equally.”
“My child pointed out someone else’s skin color, and I didn’t know what to say.”
“We’ve never brought up racism with our kids–I don’t want them to get the
wrong idea about people…“
How do we talk to our kids about race, identity, racism, and anti-racist practices? As parents, caretakers, and educators, this work should also likely start with investigating our own feelings about and personal experiences these subjects. Find some resources for that here. But also consider these books and links as a great place to start some meaningful conversations with the young people in your life.
Start Here
More Great Books
We’re Different; We’re the Same, by Bobbi Kates & Joe Math
Can I Touch Your Hair?: Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship, by Irene Latham & Charles Waters
Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness, by Anastasia Higginbotham
Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Ibrim X. Kendi
The Hate U Give, by Angie Thomas
For Parents and Educators
Talking Race With Young Children, NPR’s LifeKit, 20-minute audio
Talking to White Kids About Race & Racism, Safe Space Radio, 53-minute radio
Articles and Interactive Webinars by Raising Race Conscious Children, raceconscious.org
Ten Tips for Teaching and Talking to Kids About Race, EmbraceRace, http://www.embracerace.org
Talking to Kids About Race, Smithsonian Guide
Raising White Kids: Bringing Up Children in a Racially Unjust America, Jennifer Harvey
What if All the Kids are White: Anti-Bias Multicultural Education with Young Children & Families, Louise Derman-Sparks & Patricia G. Ramsey
Why are all the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations About Race, Beverly Tatum
Toys, Games, and TV
Favorite Diverse Toys, The Everymom
Representation Matters: 35 Black Kids TV Shows You Can Watch Right Now, Mater Mea
6 Diverse Children’s Cartoons (Where the Main Character Isn’t Necessarily White), Huffington Post
Mount Desert Island Racial Equity Working Group 