In response to Charleston: White anti-racist parenting

In response to Charleston: White anti-racist parenting

by guest blogger Rev. Emily Joye Reynolds Last night at a vigil I heard a Black elder in my community trace herstory through the bombing of a church that claimed the lives of 4 young Black girls, the murder of…

What our six-year-olds have to say about gender stereotypes

What our six-year-olds have to say about gender stereotypes

by guest bloggers Kevin Wood, Emily Silver, and Stephanie Grundy In January, a theater group performed a version of “Princess and the Pea” for our pre-K to second-grade school. The show focused a young woman whose only role was to…

Talking about Black Lives Matter to White Children

Talking about Black Lives Matter to White Children

by guest blogger Amy Dudley This past Martin Luther King Jr. Day my five-year-old daughter and I attended a day long Freedom Camp organized by some long-time educators, a passionate, intergenerational, multiracial group that included pioneers in anti-bias education, and…

My children’s experiences with internalized racism

My children’s experiences with internalized racism

by guest blogger Ben Wright My children are mixed heritage children—Latina (my partner) and White (me). They have internalized more racism and other oppressions than I would like and it comes out in a variety of ways. My partner and…

Janet Alperstein, Raising Race Conscious Children

“Momma, why aren’t there more boy teachers?”

by guest blogger Janet Alperstein, Ph.D In the fall of 2005, I sat in my parents’ living room where a postcard on a bookshelf read “Raise Boys And Girls The Same”—and told them that my adoption plans were moving forward…

Black is not a bad word: Why I don’t talk in code with my children

Black is not a bad word: Why I don’t talk in code with my children

by guest blogger Adelaide Lancaster I’m a St. Louis mom, a New York entrepreneur, and mom to three children (ages 4, 3, and 1). I spend much of my time trying to raise these children to be big-hearted, just, and…

What Malala taught my two-year-olds

What Malala taught my two-year-olds

by guest blogger Melissa Le I am a classroom teacher in a pre-school in Brooklyn, NY. I am Vietnamese-American—my parents are from Vietnam. For most of the children in my class, this is their first time in a school environment….

Guest Blogger Julie Roberts-Phung writing for Raising Race Conscious Children

In the face of Baltimore: Reflecting on conversations with my son about Ferguson

My son is 4. He is Vietnamese and White (Irish and Russian), I’m a White woman and his dad is Vietnamese, the first of his family born in the US.

During the weeks after the Ferguson non-indictment, I listened to many stories on the radio about Mike Brown. I thought about each one and whether the radio should stay on or off (when my son was present). I usually turned the radio off when there was a really gruesome description, but otherwise I left it on.

Sarah Halter Hahes, Raising Race Conscious Children

Negative stereotypes and the danger of students learning not to talk about race

I am a White educator of third grade students in Brookline, Massachusetts. I teach in public school within a very wealthy and somewhat diverse population. Our minority enrollment is 41% (mostly Asian, and only 3% Black). I am also the mother to a one-year-old boy. A few years ago, I took a class called Empowering Multicultural Initiatives (EMI ) that changed my life. This class challenged me to confront my White privilege and find ways to have courageous conversations about race.

Janet Alperstein, Raising Race Conscious Children

My son’s Jewish and Guatemalan identity

Celebrations are a big part of our family: the Jewish holidays, the anniversaries of the day we met and the day we became a family, Guatemalan Independence Day, and National Adoption Day. Each of these celebrations helps us reaffirm our multiple identities.