Anti-Asian racism and young children

Anti-Asian racism and young children

by Sachi Feris A decade ago, I was in a car with my husband and two Argentine friends in downtown Manhattan. We slowed down to stop at a red light and saw two pedestrians waiting to cross the street, both…

Conversations with my four-year-old about racism

Conversations with my four-year-old about racism

by guest blogger Rhea St. Julien I’ve been with my husband, who is Black, for 15 years, but I have been White all my life. I still get things wrong, I still miss racist stuff, and I still don’t always…

“One Hundred Years of Lynching:” Coming to Terms With America’s Violent Past

“One Hundred Years of Lynching:” Coming to Terms With America’s Violent Past

by guest blogger Pedro A. Noguera, Ph. D When I moved back to NY in 2000, one of the first things I did with my children was to take them to visit the Museum of Natural History. I had always enjoyed…

Leo Lionni's "A Color of his Own": Cross-race versus same-race spaces

Leo Lionni’s “A Color of his Own”: Cross-race versus same-race spaces

by Sachi Feris As a long-time reader of Leo Lionni, it surprised me that Google searches of Lionni’s books did not yield lessons plans explicitly discussing race, since many of his books speak to themes of racial identity and the…

How my White family will fight Islamaphobia

How my White family will fight Islamaphobia

by guest blogger Zoë Williams This post is part of a week-long series highlighting supporters of Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ), both in their parenting of race-conscious children and their activist work for racial justice. SURJ is a national network of…

Talking about prison with my three-year-old

Talking about prison with my three-year-old

by Sachi Feris When my daughter was just a year old, I remember being struck by this interaction between a mother and her child at the playground: I was standing in front of the bridge that connects the steps to…

The N-word and my daughter

by guest blogger Martha Haakmat I woke up this morning thinking about what it means to raise race conscious children, and how some of us have no choice. I am sure this is on my mind heavily because I am…

Reflections on Columbus as we prepare for Thanksgiving

Reflections on Columbus as we prepare for Thanksgiving

by Sachi Feris On “Columbus Day” I posted the song “1492” by Nancy Schimmel on Raising Race Conscious Children’s Facebook page. The song, an old favorite I have used with 4th and 5th grade students, details an alternative version of the…

The problem with “Curious George”

The problem with “Curious George”

by Sachi Feris The Spanish version of the original “Curious George” found its way to our bookshelf via hand-me-downs and my three-year-old daughter discovered it after diligently searching for a “new, new, new book that I’ve never, ever read.” It’s…

Confronting White bias: Bringing my research to my parenting

Confronting White bias: Bringing my research to my parenting

by guest blogger Richard Milner, Ph.D As an African-American, middle-class professor of urban education, I am constantly bridging my research with my parenting responsibilities, reflecting on discourse and actions I take with my children as I attempt to help them…