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.

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My daughter’s rainbow dress: “In support of all queer and gay people”

by Sachi Feris My daughter was two-and-a-half in the fall of 2014 when Michael Brown and Eric Garner and Black Lives Matter were all over the news. During those months, I wrote a post entitled, “How I would talk to…

A letter to my 16-year-old son about his privilege

by guest blogger Jen Cort Dear Son, When you were younger, you came home from school upset because a teacher had said: “All of the Quakers were dead.” Being Quaker, you described feeling unseen and wanted me to correct the…

New Promises to My White Children, Part Three

This is post #3 (in series of three) detailing Adelaide Lancaster’s journey as a White parent (and co-founder of WeStories.org.) Read the first post and the second post in this series. Promise #5 I promise I will work to provide you with…

New Promises to My White Children, Part Two

This is post #2 (in series of three) detailing Adelaide Lancaster’s journey as a White parent (and co-founder of WeStories.org). Click here to read the first post in this series. Promise #2:  I promise to refrain from using coded language When…

New Promises to My White Children: Part One

This is the first in a series of three posts detailing Adelaide Lancaster’s journey as a White parent (and co-founder of WeStories.org). Dear E, H, & P: In the days and months since Michael Brown was shot I’ve thought a…

Small group workshop series this summer and fall!

Have you participated in a Raising Race Conscious Children Workshop/Webinar and want to take the experience a step further? Do you parent a child of a different racial identity than your own? Are you new to Raising Race Conscious Children…

100 race-conscious things you can say to your child to advance racial justice

In honor of Raising Race Conscious Children’s 100th post, this list lifts a quote from each and every blog post to date, modeling language that has actually been used in a conversation with a child regarding race (and other identity-markers…

“They are WAY to young to understand!:” What Harriet Tubman taught my White five-year-old

by guest blogger Alexandra Lopez Reitzes My five-year-old tends to have a Song Of The Week—the random tune she warbles to herself all day, every day, until a new song comes along. Last winter, one song stuck around far longer….

Renters or owners in our school?: Questions and reflections from a parent of color

by Lori Taliaferro Riddick “He takes a circuitous route to hang up his coat to avoid them,” I told the head of the lower school. “That’s a good strategy,” he replied. And I sat there dumbfounded. Why should my child…

Dear Raising Race Conscious Children community of readers, workshop participants, and guest bloggers, Our 100th post was published early through a technical glitch–but we are so excited to see the excitement this mistake has generated! Stay tuned for posts #98…