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Talking to your kids about racism
Talking to your kids about racism
How to start the important conversation and keep it going.
How to start the important conversation and keep it going.
Babies notice physical differences, including skin colour, from as early as 6 months. Studies have shown that by age 5, children can show signs of racial bias, such as treating people from one racial group more favourably than the other. Ignoring or avoiding the topic isn’t protecting children, it’s leaving them exposed to bias that exists wherever we live. Children who encounter racism, can be left feeling lost while trying to understand why they are being treated a certain way, which in turn can impact their long-term development and well-being. - Read more from UNICEF
Being silent cannot be an option.
THE CHALLENGE:
THE CHALLENGE:
Parents are a child's first introduction to the world, and so the parent school partnership is an important one if we are to address racism and have a lasting impact on the lives our students.
Parents are a child's first introduction to the world, and so the parent school partnership is an important one if we are to address racism and have a lasting impact on the lives our students.
Your design challenge is to create a plan for what an anti-racist parent school partnership will look like.
Your design challenge is to create a plan for what an anti-racist parent school partnership will look like.
Some Questions to Consider:
Some Questions to Consider:
How might our community support families in understanding how to address racism at home?
What role might parents play in supporting the efforts at school?
How might we extend our understanding of anti-racist parenting to a wider community?
Possible Actions:
Possible Actions:
Through your inquiry, you will undoubtedly imagine many interesting ways to build the home school connection. Some possible actions could include a workshop series on anti-racist parenting, parent book talks, research and articles for the school blog, and building community connecting for supporting parents.
Panel Guests for Home School Connection: Roger & Lynne
Panel Guests for Home School Connection: Roger & Lynne
Lynne Procope is a poet, connector and humanist who helps others find their voice.
Lynne Procope is a Trinidadian born American poet. She is one of the founders of the louderARTS Project. In 1998, Procope made the 1998 Nuyorican Poetry Slam team. She and her fellow Nuyorican team members Alix Olson, Steve Coleman and Guy LeCharles Gonzalez would go on to win the 1998 National Poetry Slam Championship that year in Austin, TX.[1] This championship would lead to Soft Skull Press publishing the anthology Burning Down the House which showcased poetry by Olson, Procope, Coleman and Gonzalez as well as poetry by the 1998 Nuyorican Team's coach, Roger Bonair-Agard.[2] Her best known poems include "Elemental Woman", "Flectere" and "Evidence of Injury". Her writing focuses on the human experience of women and marginalized groups. Learn More about Lynne here.
Roger Bonair Agard is a father, educator, author and activist.
Roger Bonair-Agard is a native of Trinidad & Tobago, and Brooklyn. He is author of tarnish & masquerade, (Cypher Books, 2006), GULLY (Cypher Books, 2010), Bury My Clothes (Haymarket Books, 2013), which was long listed for the National Book Award, and won the Society of Midland Authors award for poetry; and Where Brooklyn At?! (Willow Books/Aquarius Press, 2016). Among the places his poetry and prose have been published are Rattapallax, Louisville University Review, Union Station Magazine, Harvard Review Online, Gulf Coast, Academy of American Poets – Poem a Day, Drunken Boat, Poetry Magazine Online, Callaloo, Apex Magazine, Crab Orchard Review, and in several anthologies Roger is Writer-in-Residence at Brooklyn’s National Sawdust, co-founder of NYC’s LouderARTS Project, and frontman for the band Miyamoto is Black Enough. A Cave Canem fellow,
Roger is creator and facilitator of The Baldwin Protocols: Reading Series, and the Baldwin Protocols, a series of arts-based interventions in the form of workshops, seminars and lectures which help students of color and first generation students traverse the potential pitfalls of life in Primarily White Institutions of higher learning. He is facilitator, co-designer and co-producer of the documentary A Common Thread – a storytelling unearthing of inequity between two neighboring Michigan communities.
Roger has taught Creative Writing, and designed anti-racist curriculum at every level from Kindergarten to Research 1 Universities. He is Program Director, teaches, and writes on Pedagogy and Curriculum design with Free Write Arts & Literacy at Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center, and Cook County Jail Division 10, Chicago, IL.
He is the father of Uma, Nina and Arima.`
Roger's newest artistic endeavor: Marimoto is Not Black enough, is a music and poetry infusion harmoniously making noise to raise awareness and elevate the human experience. Give it a listen, here.
You can check out one of Roger's poetry readings here.
RESOURCES TO SUPPORT YOUR INQUIRY
RESOURCES TO SUPPORT YOUR INQUIRY
Living In Colour host Farah Nasser chats with Brandon Hay, and Yashy Murphy about the importance of having race discussions with kids.
The subject of race can be very touchy. As finance executive Mellody Hobson says, it's a "conversational third rail." But, she says, that's exactly why we need to start talking about it.
Author and activist Ibram X. Kendi continues his discussion with Sheinelle Jones about his book “Antiracist Baby.” He shares the importance of starting conversations about racism with kids at a young age, his hopes for the future and more.
"It’s hard to understand antiracism without understanding what it means to be racist." Ibram X. Kendi
"It’s hard to understand antiracism without understanding what it means to be racist." Ibram X. Kendi
"The only way to undo racism is to consistently identify and describe it — and then dismantle it,” writes professor Ibram X. Kendi. That is the essence of antiracism: the action that must follow both emotional and intellectual awareness of racism. Kendi sits down with journalist Jemele Hill to explore what an antiracist society might look like, how we can play an active role in building it, and what being an antiracist in your own context might mean"
-More from Kendi on How to Be An AntiRacist at the Aspen Festival
évaluer leurs privilèges et leur partialité et en être plus conscients (voir Racisme, sexisme et homophobie, et Réflexion : Exercices et exemples/Exercices de réflexion personnelle);
encourager leurs collègues à explorer ces problèmes et à en parler;
faire cesser les actes de nature sexiste, raciste et homophobe chaque fois qu’ils en sont témoins. (Voir Stratégies d’action positive/Stratégies réactives.)
Certains milieux scolaires sont très homogènes et il se peut que nous entendions rarement parler de situations de violence. Nous pouvons donc conclure qu’il n’est pas nécessaire de parler des problèmes liés à l’équité et à l’inclusion avec nos élèves. Mais les apparences sont parfois trompeuses.
En réalité, tous les membres d’une communauté scolaire peuvent se sentir exclus ou subir des injustices – les élèves, les parents, les collègues et le personnel d’administration. Mais plusieurs différences peuvent être camouflées ou censurées dans une école où les personnes ne se sentent pas en sécurité.
Understanding Sexism, Racism and Homophobia
Understanding Sexism, Racism and Homophobia
If our school environment seems fairly homogenous, if we rarely hear of violent incidents in our school, it may be easy to assume that we do not need to address issues related to equity and inclusive education with our students. Appearances, however, can be deceiving.
In a school that is not socially safe, many differences may be camouflaged, or muted, with repercussions for the individuals who must live with secrecy. Young people growing up in environments with less diversity may have fewer naturally-occurring opportunities to develop the tools and awareness that are needed to create an equitable and inclusive school environment.- Read More from Safe Schools
Thank you for the padlet, David, Simon, and Emilie
ADDITIONAL SUPPORT MATERIAL
ADDITIONAL SUPPORT MATERIAL
There is always more to learn...
There is always more to learn...
Explorations in inclusion, diversity, gender equity and innovation in UNHCR
Explorations in inclusion, diversity, gender equity and innovation in UNHCR
“There is a responsibility on part of the organisation to ensure that we put in place checks and balances around gender equity, and that we have processes and policies. But I would say first and foremost it has to start with each of us at a very individual and personal level.”
Excerpt: In this project, we took some time to reflect on the most latent of innovations. We believe the quest to discover and discuss inclusion, diversity and gender equity will improve our work environments and, crucially, our services to Persons of Concern. We wanted to dig beneath the surface of our conversations around diversity and inclusion to help paint a picture of the changes UNHCR wants to see. To this end, we have collated written explorations of pressing diversity challenges in the organisation, extended recorded interviews with colleagues who have experienced the difficulties of exclusion and merits of inclusion, and an artistic examination of the visual landscape of human interactions and systematic bias formation.
UNESCO Resources for Combatting Racism:
Racism, xenophobia and intolerance are problems prevalent in all societies. But every day, each and every one of us can stand up against racial prejudice and intolerant attitudes. Be a human rights champion, #fightracism and #Standup4humanrights.
International human rights law-
International human rights law-
The principles of equality and non-discrimination are enshrined at the heart of modern international law, including in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in the Charter of the United Nations. They also permeate the two key international human rights Covenants, on Economic Social and Cultural Rights, and on Civil and Political Rights, as well as dozens of conventions, treaties, declarations and other important international legal instruments.
The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) is the most comprehensive instrument concerned with combating racial discrimination. It was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 21 December 1965 and entered into force on 4 January 1969.
Other international instruments aim to protect vulnerable groups:
United Nations Celebrations
United Nations Celebrations
International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (21 March)
International Day for Tolerance (16 November)
International Decade for People of African Descent (2015 -2024)
Thank you to everyone who has passed resources along to support our work. Those resources have been shared here. If you have more that you would like to share, please send them to Erin Threlfall .
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