'I See These Conversations As Protective': Talking With Kids About Race
At this point, given what's happening in our country, a lot of parents want to talk to their kids about racism.
On talking to very young children about racism
IK: You can use books as a conversation starter.
RW: Especially for the little ones, bringing in books that give historical context, like biographies — there's so many picture books that are biographies of black activists, artists, people who paved the way for us to be here.
But I also think it's important to just let young people see that black people live lives, and they do their hair and they play outside and they have fun.
On teaching kids to respond to racist remarks from other kids
IK: If it's a black child, if it's a child of color, it's critically important for the parents of black children to — even long before they go and experience another child telling them their hair is ugly — to be constantly sharing with them and telling them that their hair is beautiful, because when they receive that type of racist idea from another young child, they may not internalize it.
