“Martin Luther King Fixed It”: Children Making Sense of Racial Identity in a Colorblind Society

Abstract

Children in the United States grow up in a context wherein colorblindness and racism coexist. This article examined how colorblindness functions as a societal "master narrative" that shapes how children construct their own racial identities. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews with 217 Black, White, and Multiracial children (M age = 9.92) in public schools in the Pacific Northwest during 2013-2014 academic year. Our analysis identified four race narratives, which varied systematically by child age and race. Associations were also found between narrative types and children's ratings of racial identity importance. Although colorblindness infuses many of the racial narratives, there was evidence that children also question and disrupt this master narrative with stories of resistance that counter colorblind norms.

Beyond Ethnicity: Applying Helms’s White Racial Identity Development Model Among White Youth

“…The interviews were conducted in a private room on school property and varied in length from 14 to 81 min ( M = 39.43, SD = 14.30). All interviews were semi‐structured and explored participants’ meaning making on identity and subjective experiences (Rogers & Meltzoff, 2017; Rogers, Moffitt, & Jones 2021). Each participant completed a card‐sorting task, selecting cards that they felt applied to them with, “words we use to describe ourselves or other people” (including Asian/Black/Hispanic/white, boy/girl, son/daughter, student, athlete).…”

“…The data used in the current study were drawn from a larger research project examining self‐perceptions and social identities across childhood and adolescence (see Rogers & Meltzoff, 2017 2021). Participants were recruited from two public elementary schools and one public middle school in an urban, predominantly low‐income area in the western United States.…”

The Role of the Family for Racism and Xenophobia in Childhood and Adolescence

“…I think that's what we have taught our kids tooit doesn't matter whether you are a girl or a boy, it doesn't matter if you are brown, black, blue, purple, um, it's what's inside that counts.white American mother, color-blind approach (Hagerman, 2014(Hagerman, , p. 2605 Racism and xenophobia are not just the problems of the adult world. As systems of beliefs, practices and policies, racism and xenophobia 1 influence children's perceptions and experiences at early ages (Abrams & Killen, 2014;Bigler & Liben, 2006;Cristol & Gimbert, 2008;Elenbaas et al, 2020;Rogers et al, 2021). For marginalized children and adolescents (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), ethnic/religious minority) who are most directly impacted, we know that racism and xenophobia are harmful not only to their physical and psychological development (Benner et al, 2018;Del Toro et al, 2019;Priest et al, 2013;Seaton et al, 2010;Sellers et al, 2006;Sirin et al, 2015), but also to entire communities by manifesting in the form of unemployment, poverty, racial profiling, and police brutality (Laurencin & Walker, 2020;Quillian et al, 2017;Santiago-Rivera et al, 2016).…”

How age and race affect the frequency, timing, and content of conversations about race with children

“…Indeed, recent work suggests that the broader societal conversations about race and racism in the wake of George Floyd's murder may have increased Black—but not White—parents' discussions of race with children (Sullivan et al, 2021). And, relatedly, scholars have begun to examine the ways in which both parental ethnic‐racial socialization and children's ideas about their own racial identity can change in response to race‐related sociopolitical events (Rogers et al, 2021; Sullivan et al, 2021).…”

“…Long before entering adolescence, children's inferences about race appear to take into consideration complex factors related to power, status, and broader sociopolitical dynamics (Newheiser & Olson, 2012; Shutts et al, 2011). This work suggests that within the first decade of life, children shift from using race simply as an instrument for categorizing others, to a multifaceted lens through which they understand their broader social context (Rogers et al, 2021). Given that children's social world is processed through the lens of race, and that children in the United States and elsewhere grow up in societies founded on structural racism (Kendi, 2019; Roberts & Rizzo, 2020; Salter et al, 2018), anti‐racism efforts directed at children are necessary.…”