Raising Race Conscious Children

Welcome to Raising Race Conscious Children, a resource to support adults who are trying to talk about race with young children. The goals of these conversations are to dismantle the color-blind framework and prepare young people to work toward racial justice. If we commit to collectively trying to talk about race with young children, we can lean on one another for support as we, together, envision a world where we actively challenge racism each and every day. Many of the blog's posts are geared toward White people but a community of guest bloggers represent diverse backgrounds and the strategies discussed may be helpful for all.

It starts one conversation at a time.

Quick Links


A messy conversation with my three-year-old about the history of slavery and #BlackLivesMatter

by Sachi Feris I have been talking about race and racial justice with my daughter since she was a baby, not worrying too much when my commentary may have been over her head. I wanted her to hear my words…

“Are you a boy or a girl?”: Helping young children think through gender

by guest blogger Katie Schaffer I’m a queer woman with short hair who often wears button ups and slacks. (I use the word queer to talk about myself because it provides space for the recognition that both gender and sexuality…

My two-year-old's passion for consciousness-raising

by Sachi Feris In a conversation about stereotypes and children’s books, a colleague (at the school where I teach Spanish to kindergarten and first-grade) mentioned that the song “Baa Baa Black Sheep” contained references to slavery in the United States:…

White privilege and imaginary play with guns

by guest blogger Amy Fellows Today, I had a very clear moment of understanding White privilege. My six-year-old bi-racial daughter was playing with some White neighbor kids, when another girl came over with a very real looking cap gun pistol,…

My toddler called me a racist...

by guest blogger Shannon Cofrin Gaggero …Out of the blue, while washing his hands one day. It sounded more like “ray-tish” and for a solid 2 minutes we were stuck in the excruciating toddler communication limbo where he repeats himself…

Seeing “the only one”: Students of color in majority White schools

by guest blogger Martha Haakmat When my oldest daughter, Kaila, was two, she came home from pre-school with her class picture firmly in hand. She wanted to put it up by the other pictures on the piano in our living room…

“Are you speaking Spanish?”;  How to ask questions about differences

by Sachi Feris One morning, my two-year-old and I took a walk to the playground. She was walking up the steps to the slide where two bigger boys were playing on the landing. I was standing by the slide and…

The problem with my White son believing that "everyone is equal"

by guest blogger Danielle McDonald Today I read a post on Urban Cusp’s Facebook page stating, “White parents there is work to be done and you have a critical role to play.” This was posted above a tweet that had…

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…

Why I use the words ’Black’ and ‘White’ versus ‘brown’ and ‘peach’

by Sachi Feris In Raising Race Conscious Children’s interactive workshops, participants practice explicitly naming race. I have gotten a lot of questions about the utility of using the words “Black” and “White” as part of the strategy to name race…