Reply to White parents: what are you teaching your white preschool age children about racism?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We read age-appropriate bios of famous civil rights leaders, and we talk about what they were fighting against and for. We talk about how in the past, and even today, some people think that it's okay to treat others badly because of the color of their skin.  And we talk about how that's never okay -- that we should treat everyone with kindness.

We also talk about how people have different color skin/hair, etc., because of where their ancestors lived (people whose ancestors lived in places where it was hotter tend to have darker skin; people whose ancestors lived in places where it was colder tend to have lighter skin).  And how great it is that people have different hair and skin and eyes, etc.

As the kids get older, we talk about history in more detail, and about the specific ways that black people and other minorities were discriminated against (slavery, Jim Crow, Indian removal, redlining, etc.) and the ways that racism still shows itself in our society.  [/quote]

+1. My children are biracial and their father moved to the US from Africa when he was in grade school. We are also an interfaith household. We are subscribed to the Growing Jewish Families program through the Greater Jewish Federation of Washington so both of my kids get monthly age-appropriate books related (directly or otherwise) to Judaism; we also subscribe to the Just Like Me! box (https://www.justlikemebox.com/) so they also get books every month about children and people of color. This past week we have revisited one we got about MLK Jr. (https://www.amazon.com/Brave-Little-Martin-Luther-Ordinary/dp/1984814249), one about Rosa Parks that I can't find at the moment, and one about the Obamas. All age-appropriate.

We have a lot of talks about skin color and hair because that's what they tend to ask about most right now. We talk a lot about kindness. We've talked a little about racism, which the books about MLK Jr. and Rosa Parks were helpful for framing the conversation in a way they could understand but wasn't too much -- explaining that there used to be laws that were unfair to people with darker skin, and those laws are different now, but we all still have to work together toward kindness and equality for everyone. It was hard to tell my 5-year-old these problems are not all solved now. It will be harder when I have to tell them some people will treat them differently because of their skin color, but that conversation is coming. I've reached out to my black and biracial friends to help me understand their perspective, what worked for them as kids to discuss/understand, what they tell their kids, etc.

I just re-read the OP and title and realized you were asking for white children, but I'll still post this, because a lot of it is still relevant for them to know. I've recommended the Just Like Me box to my white friends/parents of white children who wanted to have books for their kids where the people look different from them. My kids (K/pre-school age) also don't necessarily understand what it means to not be white, beyond observing the physical differences in their friends and family. They understand they are darker than me, their white mother, but lighter than their father and grandmother ("Why is Daddy lighter than Grandma?" "Because Daddy's grandpa, his daddy's father, was biracial like you are."). My older one recognizes that she does not look like the African-American children in her class, that she's lighter except for when she gets sun, and her hair is different. She understands that this is because her mother is white.

The harder conversations are coming soon. I'm just trying to be as prepared as possible and keep it at a level that my kids can understand and are comfortable enough discussing...answering their questions honestly but thoughtfully.[/quote]

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