Why Race Conscious Parenting?

How do children learn about race?

• Explicit conversations about race are one factor among many.
• Young people make sense of race by interpreting multiple aspects of the racial contexts of their lives, including family, neighborhood, school, peers, activities, travel, and media. (Hagerman, 2018)
• Who is there? Who isn’t there?
• What roles do people play?
• Who has power and authority? Who doesn’t?

What happens when families don’t explicitly teach children about race?

• Some families are reluctant to talk about race. They may discuss race in elusive and contradictory, roundabout ways. Some parents teach their kids that race no longer matters in the US. These patterns are common in White families (Bonilla-Silva, 2018).
• By failing to address race explicitly, we normalize and legitimate social differences, justifying inequality, and maintaining the existing racial hierarchy. (Bonilla-Silva, Goar, & Embrick, 2006; Hagerman, 2018)

Why Race Conscious Parenting?

• Explicit discussions about race can help children develop more positive attitudes about race and diversity (Bronson & Merryman, 2009).
• Children tend to have an strong sense of fairness (Wood, 2015). When parents/ caregivers helps them to learn about the role that racism plays in society, they often respond with righteous indignation and a desire to make change.
• When children are equipped with both the language to directly name racial injustice and the experiences to actively resist, they can play a powerful role in making our society more equal (Hagerman, 2018, p. 209).
• Parents of White children can help children to recognize their privilege and understanding how use their privilege to work for racial justice (Hagerman, 2018).