Understanding the challenges and opportunities of talking to children about race and racism in child‐facing institutions

Abstract

Researchers from a range of disciplines emphasize that effectively socializing children about race and racism is vital to promoting positive outcomes, such as disrupting the development of racist attitudes and beliefs. While parents and guardians influence children's racial attitudes and beliefs, children also learn about race and racism from many other important adults in their lives, such as teachers, community leaders, and librarians. Yet race‐related topics are largely absent or underdeveloped from child‐facing programming, policies, and procedures. In this paper, we describe three major barriers to effectively socializing children about race and racism within child‐facing institutions like libraries, museums, and schools: (1) adults’ (often inaccurate) beliefs about children's social and cognitive race‐related development, (2) adults’ knowledge and comfort discussing race and racism with others, and (3) social norms that minimize explicit discussion of race and racism in institutional and interpersonal contexts. To contextualize these barriers, we address how children can process and reason about race across childhood and outline the evidence‐based benefits of socializing children about race and racism inside and outside the home. Finally, we provide recommendations aimed at translating this research to child‐focused spaces and provide general guidelines to consider when implementing such practices in their own spheres of influence. In sum, we argue that effective socialization about race and racism benefits all children and can (and should!) be achieved successfully outside of the home; and that adults who interact with children must interrogate their own beliefs, biases, and perspectives, work to develop cultural competence, and invest in and continually reassess practices and policies to facilitate effective socialization about race and racism.

Fighting Racism Denial; Becoming a Mother‐Scholar‐Activist

“…My husband and I decided to advocate for school acknowledgment of salient societal conversations about race, and Floyd's murder that catalyzed them. I wanted the school to use these conversations as a learning opportunity that would lay early foundations for understanding systemic racism, not only for my son but for students of all backgrounds (Wilton et al., 2024). I was also hoping to support my son's sense of belonging at school by aligning conversations at school with those at home, which can facilitate wellbeing among students with marginalized identities (Levine et al., 2024).…”

“…I was also hoping to support my son's sense of belonging at school by aligning conversations at school with those at home, which can facilitate wellbeing among students with marginalized identities (Levine et al., 2024). I wanted the school's messaging to communicate a valuing of the same pressing social issues we emphasize at home, which I knew could be done in a developmentally appropriate manner (Wilton et al., 2024).…”

“…I was focused on the school's responsibility to have conversations with its students about race, ethnicity, and social activism because I want my son to grow up in a world where his non‐Black peers understand what race is, that racism is systemic, and feel a deep personal responsibility to do something about it. One important step toward this goal is to scaffold these ideas in public school contexts, even for elementary school students (Wilton et al., 2024).…”

“…Our son's well‐resourced school should have invited a trustworthy early childhood educator with experience in this area to lead relevant lessons and conversations. In the long term, new teachers must gain these qualifications through their teacher credential programs, and existing teachers must gain them via continuing education (Wilton et al., 2024). The school's failure in these areas, along with their apathetic acknowledgement of the racial unrest, is another example of racism denial masquerading as support for racial equity.…”