Raising Our Kids to be Anti-Racist
In the wake of horrific events that have plagued America recently, I felt it necessary to talk to mothers and parents alike about how we can address these issues with our children.
They are exposed to so much, do not make the mistake of thinking your child is too young or too innocent to talk about equality and fairness. They are listening and watching you at all times and they will treat other how you treat them.
Talking to kids about race whether you are black, white, brown, or otherwise there are some simple steps you can take to empower and educate your little ones.
Step 1: Educate Yourself
Step 2: Talk to Your Kids
Step 3: Use Your Resources
Step 4: Instill Self Esteem
Step 5: Talk to Other Parents and Take Action
Step 1: Educate yourself
It is very difficult to teach others before you know yourself. If you are reading this, it is a great start!
Educate yourself on the issues. Mothers and fathers of color unfortunately live the reality of racial injustice everyday and feel the fear when their children walk out the door.
White mothers and fathers you have a responsibility to educate and understand the development of racial injustice in this country.
There are multiple books, articles, videos, and human interaction that can be used to learn about different racial experiences and what can be done to make change in your community.
Everyone has to work together to take action against racial injustice and disparity. Here are some resources to educate yourself on the issues and ways to raise anti-racist kids.
Step 2: Talk to your kids
This is crucial. Parents have been debating when or if it is the right time to talk to your kids about racial inequality.
You should definitely talk to your kids and it is never too early to talk to them about racism. One of the first things we teach children is to share and be fair. We need to reiterate this as children grow older.
When your children are young, talk about what fairness looks like. It is opportunity for all people regardless of race or nationality.
Let them know they are amazing exactly the way they are and instill self confidence and boost self esteem.
As your children get older, talk about how they feel about justice versus injustice and privileged vs. underprivileged.
There are no perfect words and it will be a difficult conversation but saying nothing is not the answer!
Step 3: Use your resources
Don’t be afraid to ask questions and seek out information. Here are some great resources you can use to talk to your children about racism and continue the conversation about injustice.Children won’t even realize they are learning a very important lesson about justic.
Step 4: Instill self esteem
Boost your child’s self confidence every chance you get!
Tell them they are smart, beautiful, kind, valued, brilliant, and important.
The more your children know their value, the more they will fight against injustice for themselves and others. Try not to compare your children to other children or other families.
This creates a spirit of competition and hate. They should not feel that they are better than anyone else but that every human being brings their own value to the world.
Step 5: Talk to other parents and take action
Do what you can to take action against inequality and police brutality.
All action starts with conversation. If you do the previous steps, you are moving in the right direction of change.
Other things you can do include providing opportunities for minorities, protesting, organizing a session to educate others, use your privilege to correct others who are not conscious of their privilege, shut down stereotypes when you see them implemented, support black owned businesses, donate to a cause or organization, or just speak out on social media.
I would love to continue this discussion and provide more resources for parents who are looking for answers.
Leave a comment below or provide information for fellow readers.
XOXO-Millenni-Mom
