How to talk to kids about race

With everything going on in the world right now, I feel the need to pivot my focus from the "normal", planned out content that I have had and written to something a little more appropriate and relevant to what we are experiencing as a nation right now.

With protests being organized around the world around the issue of racism and police brutality, I feel like in order to make a real change for our future, we need education for our children. It is never too early for us as parents to instill values surrounding equal rights and tolerance for our future generations.

It is up to us to spread the love and eradicate the hate that our nation and the world experiences.

We need to get past what is right and wrong and focus on the message that we want our children to spread throughout the world in their immediate and far off future.

It is so important to start early.

Whether we like it or not, our kids will experience negativity towards someone who is different from an early age. Maybe it is not necessarily from adults that are present throughout our children's early years, but from kids on the playground, classmates and clips seen on media and entertainment outlets that could confuse our children. Even if it is just a small amount of negativity and construed values that may seep through a child's filter, it can cause this next generation to spiral down the same intolerant paths that some of our ancestors have.

I encourage you to talk with your children about the serious situations in the world that are not so easy to talk about. Compassion and empathy need to be taught. Acceptance and love MUST be instilled in our children at an early age.

I know it can be easy to just skip over these issues and put them in your adult "worry box" to shelter those we love so much, but we as parents have the ability and duty to change the world through our children by breaking down others' actions.

We have compiled some phenomenal resources for addressing these present issues with our children and leading to a path of tolerance and equality that coincides with the values that this nation was founded on and the rights that our constitution have given every citizen of the United States regardless of skin color or ancestral descent.

Books To Read:

Black Feminist Thought by Patricia Hill Collins

Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower by Dr. Brittney Cooper

Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon

How To Be An Antiracist by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad

Raising Our Hands by Jenna Arnold

Redefining Realness by Janet Mock

Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde

So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander

The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism for the Twenty-First Century by Grace Lee Boggs

The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color by Cherríe Moraga

When Affirmative Action Was White: An Untold History of Racial Inequality in Twentieth-Century America by Ira Katznelson

White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo, PhD

Book Lists:

25 Children's Books That Celebrate Differences

35 Children's Books That Teach Empathy And Kindness

The Equal Opportunity Book Box is a monthly diverse picture book subscription box that donates one book for every book sold. A bonus: It was started by a 2020 graduate of Northwestern University.

Helpful articles and online resources:

White Supremacy Still Exists. Here’s What White Parents Can Do About It.

How To Raise An Upstander

50 Amazing Books By Black Authors From The Past 5 Years

Dad's Sweet Comics Promote Empathy, Tolerance And Love

11 Things To Do Besides Say ‘This Has To Stop’ In The Wake Of Police Brutality

How To Celebrate Black History With Your Kids All Year Round

Talking to children after racial incidents, by renowned scholar and psychologist Dr. Howard Stevenson

A viral Google doc called “Anti-racism resources” has, you guessed it, a slew of helpful resources and lists for parents and non-parents alike.

Embracerace.org has a seminar Tuesday at 8:30pm ET entitled “How do I make sure I’m not raising the next Amy Cooper?”

Children’s Community School’s list of Social Justice Resources

The Center For Racial Justice In Education resource list