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


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…

Affirming children’s questions and comments about race: a simple but powerful tool

by Sachi Feris More than ten years ago, I was teaching at a progressive, independent school and my best pal/colleague, a White woman named Sara, approached me quietly, saying: “Something just happened that I need your feedback on.” “What happened?”…

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…

How to help children feel it is “all right” to ask questions about differences

by Sachi Feris When I was little, my parents had friends with a daughter named Emily who had suffered brain damage during childbirth. As a result, Emily could not sit up or talk. I remember, when we visited, feeling uncomfortable…

When race and gender intersect: What I want my daughter to know about beauty

by Sachi Feris On a trip to Walgreens, my daughter found some Doc McStuffins stickers—a Disney television series featuring an African-American girl who wants to be a doctor. I had purchased Doc McStuffins playing cards for my daughter a few…

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

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…

“Charity” is not enough: Why I want my daughter to be an activist

by Sachi Feris As a teacher in various New York City private schools, I always felt uncomfortable about the endless drives for “charity” intended to “help other people.” Rarely, were students helped to see these “others” as real people with…

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

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….