Want to talk with your children about race and racism, but not sure where to start? Already started but want some newer resources, including upcoming online events? Here are a few ideas.
This is not a comprehensive list—I know there are many lengthy lists of anti-racism resources going around, and many of them are great, but I’d rather focus here on just a few manageable items at a time. I present these items as the White parent of a White son; I recognize my limited perspective in that regard, but hope that these items may nevertheless be useful (and I welcome additions in the comments).
General Information for Parents
- To start, parents might want to read “10 tips for teaching and talking to kids about race” from EmbraceRace and MomsRising.
- “Talking to kids about race,” by Heather Greenwood Davis at National Geographic also offers many useful ideas.
- “Talking Tips For Black Parents Discussing The Riots,” by Janice Robinson-Celeste of Successful Black Parenting, breaks things down by age group (and I found much of it useful even though some parts didn’t apply to my family).
- EmbraceRace is also hosting a webinar tonight, June 5th, at 8:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. PT, titled “‘I [STILL] can’t breathe’: Supporting kids of color amid racialized violence.”
For Families with Young Children
- Also at EmbraceRace is “10 Tips for Reading Picture Books with Children through a Race-Conscious Lens,” by Megan Dowd Lambert. Lambert herself is a queer, adoptive mother who has written several queer-inclusive children’s books, including Real Sisters Pretend, about two adopted sisters of different racial identities, who happen to have two moms. Beyond that, EmbraceRace is chock-full of much other useful information and insight, including a whole section just on Reading Race in Picture Books with Kids, which includes many book lists.
- CNN and Sesame Street have partnered to host “Coming Together: Standing Up to Racism. A CNN/Sesame Street Town Hall for Kids and Families,” on Saturday, June 6, at 10 a.m. ET. The creators say, “The show will talk to kids about racism, the recent nationwide protests, embracing diversity and being more empathetic and understanding.” [Update: If you missed it live, you can still watch it here.]
For Families with Older Children
- The TED Talks Live Short, “Unconscious Bias,” is a three-minute live and animated video from the perspective of one Black boy as he grows up under the oppression of racism. (Also includes one scene with smoking and alcohol use.)
- Informative for older kids and parents is Mellody Hobson’s TED Talk, “Color Blind or Color Brave,” a great 14-minute talk for anyone who’s ever said or heard someone say that “Race doesn’t matter to me” or “I don’t see race.”
- Bryan Stevenson’s TED Talk, “We Need to Talk About an Injustice,” while a little longer (23 minutes) is also well worth it for parents and older kids.
- Finally, the film Just Mercy, based on Stevenson’s work fighting for (mostly Black) people who have been wrongly imprisoned, is streaming free through June on iTunes, Amazon Prime Video, Google Play, YouTube, and other streaming and VOD services. It’s a powerful film, starring Michael B. Jordan, Jaime Foxx, and Brie Larson, but the subject matter of incarceration and murder makes it best for older teens and adults. (There’s one scene of a man about to be electrocuted, shown right up until the final moment. It’s integral to the story and not gratuitous, in my opinion, but it is tough to watch. That’s the point—but parents should consider their children’s likely response before watching it with them.) Stevenson’s book Just Mercy
, on which the film is based, is a compelling read for older teens and up—and there’s also a version adapted specifically for young adults. (I’ve read the original but not the young adult version, though the latter seems to have been well received.)