Raising Antiracist Kids

by Nicole C. Lee Esq.

Paperback, 2020

Status

Available

Publication

Independently published (2020), 129 pages

Library's review

"Parents, caregivers and educators know thathaving conversations with kids about race and racismare important, but they often don’t know when and how to have them.

YOU ARE NOT ALONE
Raising Antiracist Kids by Nicole Lee is meant to help adultsconfront discomfort and misconceptions about antiracism
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so they can buildantiracist spaces with the important young people in their lives.

Raising Antiracist Kids explores:

How early kids are developmentally ready to talk about race
How to actually have those conversations
Common mistakes adults make when having these conversations
Ways to model anti-racism in your life, because kids learn betterwhen they see it than when they hear it
Why it’s okay for your kids to know that you are learning rightalongside them. Hint: It’s not a problem is you don’t have all the answers!
Platitudes about how kids “don’t see race” and how we need to “treat everyoneequally” are rooted in our discomfort and disproven by evidence.

In Raising Antiracist Kids, Nicole Lee pushes past the common reasonspeople give for not discussing antiracism with the children in their lives, andprovides age-appropriate guidance and practical advice on how to put goodintentions into action.

THE IMPACT OF AVOIDANCE IS CLEAR
As with any important topic, our children need and deserve our support inunderstanding how to be anti-racist. They need to hear it and see it modeled inour lives.

A nuanced understanding of race and racism is necessary for our children’shealthy social and emotional development. Awareness of race prepares them tothink realistically and critically, to gain self-awareness and to bondappropriately with peers.

AWARENESS IS PART OF PREPARATION
Many white parents didn’t get explicit messages about navigating race insociety and were taught to be “colorblind” or that conversations about racewere impolite. These same parents feel a lot of shame and embarrassment aboutnot being able to have these conversations with their own children.

White children who are not prepared will encounter the same failure, shame,and grief we see in adults who are the unconscious and conscious purveyors ofracist beliefs and actions today.

INTENTIONAL CONVERSATIONS ABOUT RACE & PARENTING
In conversations with parents all over the US and Canada, white parentsreported these concerns:

Their parents never spoke to them about race
Their parents didn’t know what to say
The subject matter was considered too complicated for adults, so how couldchildren understand?
Parents wanted to preserve the “innocence” of childhood
Both parents did not agree on the necessity of discussions or how toapproach conversations about race
Parents believed that they lived in a diverse environment, so theirchildren would naturally not be racist
Because we have not seen these conversations modeled for us, there is aperpetual cycle of avoidance that spans generations.

We can change this cycle." www.amazon.com
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Language

Original language

English

Barcode

1321
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