Resources on How to Talk with Children about Race
Black lives matter. Racism is a pandemic. We all bleed the same color blood.
These words were seen on signs held up during the protests sparked by the horrendous death of George Floyd, and by a 400-year history of racism in our country.
There is something each of us can do to make this world a better place. One easy thing – compared to passing legislation or indicting police officers who use undue force – is to expose our children to literature that captures the lives of all people of color.
As our society is fundamentally segregated, our children need to know about the “other” so that the other is transformed into the “us.” Reading books about children of varied races and talking about race is one way to help the next generation avoid the pain, the injustice, and the massive inequality we now have in our society. We also need to educate ourselves about these issues, so we speak with our children from a place of knowing and understanding.
Thank you to all my Facebook friends for offering these suggestions. There were even more!
Articles:
- “George Floyd. Ahmaud Arbery. Breonna Taylor. What do we tell our children?” (USA Today)
- “Helping Children Cope with Frightening News” (Child Mind Institute)
- “Race & Ethnicity” (Teaching Tolerance)
- “Raising Race-Conscious Children” (A Cup of Jo)
- “Talking Race with Young Children” (NPR)
- “Talking to Children After Racial Incidents” (Penn GSE News)
- “Books About Race That Everyone Should Be Reading Right Now” (Newsweek)
- “Teaching Your Child About Black History Month” (PBS)
Books:
Elementary School-Aged Children (Grades 1-5)
- A Girl Named Misty: The True Story of Misty Copeland – Kelly Starling Lyons
- Baseball Saved Us – Ken Mochizuki
- The Gold Cadillac – Mildred D. Taylor
Middle School-Aged Children (Grades 6-8)
- Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry – Mildred D. Taylor
- The Gold Cadillac – Mildred D. Taylor
- The Watsons Go to Birmingham- 1963 – Christopher Paul Curtis
Young Adults
- Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry – Mildred D. Taylor
- The Children – David Halberstam
- The Hate U Give – Angie Thomas
Adults
- Race in Society: The Enduring American Dilemma – Margaret Andersen
Book Lists:
- 18 Books about the Civil Rights Movement for children in grades K-8 (Scholastic)
- 30 Books to help you talk to your kids about racism (Today’s Parent)
- Coretta Scott King Book Award Winners: Books for children and young adults (Common Sense Media)
- Diverse books for speech-language pathologists (@diversebooks4SLPs)
- Identify & explore multicultural picture books (Diverse Book Finder)
- Looking for excellent “diverse” books for children? Start here! (Embrace Race)
- These books can help you explain racism and protest to your kids (NYT)
