Peaceful protests, mass marches, and portrayals of violence. Petitions, political speeches, and demonstrations. The last two weeks have seen movements advocating for an end to racial inequality on a mass scale. Yet, current affairs aren’t always tangible or immediately clear, especially from a child’s perspective. Many children may have questions about the images, stories, and conversations they hear on the news and around them. We can’t solely rely on schools to ensure children fully understand the Black Lives Matter movement and the issues that fuel the movement. As parents, if we haven’t already, it is also our responsibility to engage in positive and open discussions about race and racism with our children at home.
Perhaps race has always been a topic of regular discussion in your family, or perhaps you feel unsure about how to approach the topic of race with your family. Perhaps you grew up never talking about race, or perhaps you regularly face discrimination. This guide aims to provide resources, advice, and tips to ensure that children are aware of racial inequality, racial hierarchies, and white privilege present in modern-day society, as well as share tools and knowledge in which to combat racism today. Racism and race is not a one-conversation topic, and our guide by no means contains all the answers, we simply hope to provide the foundations of good places to start and help empower families to work towards racial equality.
Authors Lily Pryer (Bear) & Francesca Chong
