How I Raised Race Conscious Kids

Taryn Skinner
7 min readJun 28, 2020

A mom of three’s advice on talking to your white kids about race, something you should have been doing already.

Photo by Jonathan Borba on Unsplash

You’re late, but it’s not too late

As white parents we have the privilege of teaching our children about racism, rather than having them experience it. White parents may think their children are too young to talk about race or to discuss social injustices, but people of color, especially black and indigenous people of color, do not have the luxury of choosing the time and place for their children to learn about racism.

Instead, children are thrust forth into the world of racism, which does not differentiate between children and adults. If you have not already been talking to your children about race, then you are late!

It is time to swallow your pride, admit your wrongs, and do better! As the parents of white children, we must do our best to educate them and radicalize them toward a passion for social justice.

Educate Yourself First

The best thing you can do before teaching your kids is educate yourself. Once you find yourself well versed in a subject, you can easily convey those ideas to a child in a way that they understand.

--

--

Taryn Skinner

mostly a ghost, sometimes a human writer, always a philosopher.