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Resources for Parents - Talking to kids about Whiteness

If you're interested in learning more, read on and share!

Given all the race, national origin, class-based violence, anti-blackness and anti-immigrant rhetoric in the media and the subsequent backlash from white-identified people and groups, there is a growing need for mindful, supportive education for white children. 

Here is a short list of resources that was just sent out on the Social Justice Training Institute's listserve by various social justice educators and activists.  


What White Children Need to Know about Race, Ali Michael and Eleonora Bartoli, Independent School Magazine
While white parents’ intention is to convey to their children the belief that race shouldn’t matter, the message their children receive is that race, in fact, doesn’t matter. The intent and aim are noble, but in order for race not to matter in the long run, we have to acknowledge that, currently, it does matter a great deal. If white parents want their children to contribute to what researchers Matthew Desmond and Mustafa Emirbayer describe as a “racially just America”2 in which race does not unjustly influence one’s life opportunities, their children will need to learn awareness and skills that they cannot acquire through silence and omission.


On Parenting
We need to deal with our discomfort and talk to our kids about racism, By Meghan Leahy, The Washington Post
Since the horrific shooting in Charleston, the questions have been pouring in, mostly from white parents. “How do I talk to my children about what happened?” “How do I explain racism to my 6-year-old?” “How do I talk about this level of violence?” “How can I support African Americans in my community?”


Curriculum for White Americans to Educate Themselves on Race and Racism–from Ferguson to Charleston, Posted By Jon Greenberg on Jul 10, 2015, Citizenship and Social Justice

--Includes a section on parenting racially conscious children

There are no doubt complexities that come with White Americans working for racial justice. White privilege can lead to a chronic case of undiagnosed entitlement, creating poor listeners, impatient speakers who talk over others, and people unaccustomed to taking orders. Nevertheless, the movement for racial justice needs more White Americans to get involved. And it’s our responsibility to help each other get involved–and get involved productively.

I compiled this list to help White Americans do so. One positive to emerge from these difficult times is the wealth of resources now available for White Americans. Never have I seen so many ideas, options, and concrete steps to take action against racism.


The blog Raising Race Conscious Children is overall a great resource (raceconscious.org), and this link references kids books http://www.raceconscious.org/childrens-books/, and there are several good blog entries on how to name whiteness in books with all white characters and how to name race in other books. 

Posted: March 13, 2018, 12:49 PM