Talking to Your Kids About Race

Dear parents,

Who better to teach your children about race than you? Yet, to best educate your children means you have to be committed to educating yourself. The resources are plentiful and we would be wise to utilize them because our children are learning about race whether we teach them or not. They are learning about it at school, place of worship, neighborhood, and other spaces. They are learning about race through books, music, movies, and media.

FIVE THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN DISCUSSING RACE WITH YOUR CHILDREN:

1. Keep it 100: Authenticity is important. We don’t have to have all the answers, just enough desire to do the necessary research.
2. Be intentional: Talking about race is rarely a casual thing, especially whereas it impacts us all in such complex ways. Therefore, we need to set our intentions on normalizing these conversations for our families.
3. Model the expectations: Ensure that you are modeling for your children whatever it is that you desire for children to learn, know, and understand.
4. Maintain an open dialogue: When you only have one-off conversations than talking about race feels awkward. Yet, when you continually engage in courageous conversations about race then you gradually and naturally become more aware, understanding, and inspired.
5. Seek relationships: Actively seek opportunities to build relationships across racial/ethnic differences. Bryan Stevenson talks about the importance of proximity and it’s a message we should all embrace because it’s the best way to learn about our differences.

Recently, Roberto presented on a panel at Russell E. Lee, a local Austin elementary school, about this topic. Enjoy the recording below. 

Contact us to speak to your staff, parent group, or organization. We also do individual consulting.