How to talk about Racism and Injustices

“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion, people must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”- Nelson Mandella⁣

Here are resources to start conversations in your homes with your child(ren) as we are only able to see one perspective at a time through the lens of social media and news reports. Let's remember there are always two sides to a story, and in times like these where injustices, inequalities, and negative emotions are strong, we are only better together, when we can learn to embrace each other with love, kindness, an open mind, and yes, apologize for our own wrong doings. It is never to early to start having these conversations in your houses. Your child(ren) are our future, and the earlier we can instill compassion, empathy, kindness, love, an open mind, and the willingness to have hard conversations, the stronger and better equipped they will be to lead us in the future.

How to Get Involved

4 Ways Kids and Parents can be Social Justice Activists While Social Distancing

Use the time to educate yourself. The more you know and the more different voices you hear, the better ally and activist you can be. Find more books about Racial and Social Justice and here. Scroll down more to learn more!
Talk to friends and family about social justice and racial justice. Share with them what you are learning and help others learn more.
Work together to make signs to show your support. Black Lives Matter is a good example of what your sign could say. You can look online to find images of other protest signs and talk about the slogans and messages with your kids. You could put signs you make in the window of your car, the front of your house, or even ask local businesses to display them.
Write to the mayor, city councilors, chief of police, the governor, or other local leaders. Tell them how you feel about police bias and violence towards people of color, and ask them how they are working to be anti-racist.

Resources for Younger Kids

Conversation Starters for you and your Child

What do you like about the way you look?

What differences do you have from other people?

What parts about how you look are the same as other people?

Elmo asked to touch Whoopi's hair and she said it was ok. What should Elmo do if Whoopi said she did not want Elmo to touch her hair?

Articles to Support Talking to Our Child(ren)

Race Relation Resources

Talking to kids about raceChildren notice color, and they might have questions about it. Not shying away from those conversations is the first step in raising an anti-racist child.

Anti-Racism For Kids 101: Starting To Talk About Race - Books For LittlesBooks to help kids to unpack racial bias so they can hear how ridiculous it sounds, think about where it comes from, and realize how it develops.

How to raise anti-racist kids: 20 resources for parentsHere's an age-by-age guide. 👇

Race Talk: Engaging Young People in Conversations about Race and RacismAs a society, public conversations about race and racism have increased in volume and intensity. Here are some suggestions and strategies for having classroom conversations with young people about these issues.

Webinars, Videos, & Events

Rewatch the CNN & Sesame Street Town Hall Coming Together: Standing Up to Racism by clicking on the image.

CommonSense.org- Parenting in Support of Black Lives: How to Build a Just Future for Kids (and How Media Can Help)

Common Sensesupport.commonsensemedia.org/event/conversations-with-common-sense/e289653?utm_source=org_CWCS_20200617_livestream&utm_medium=email

How to Discuss Racism with Teens

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: How Grit, Resilience, and Mindfulness Fail in the Face of Systemic Oppression. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.Social-emotional learning is incredibly important for our kids to thrive, but how do you ensure that it is anti-racist? Join Tony Weaver, founder at Weird Enough Productions, former Echoing Green fellow, and Marriott International Beyond Barriers awardee who was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, as he discusses how educators and community leaders can redefine SEL practices to recognize systemic bias in our community and schools. Check out last week's discussions on our YouTube channel now. Don't forget to subscribe to be notified when future recordings are up!

Racism & Me: a workshop for kids — Schoolclosures.orgDoes your child have questions about racism? Are they trying to understand what it means or why it happens? Looking for answers on what they can do? Join us, in a safe setting where they can do just that. The three facilitators Danielle, Joshua and Vivek are child advocates and social justice educat

Teaching Tolerance Resources

TT Difficult Conversations web.pdf

Using Media to Continue the Conversation of Race- Taken from commonsensemedia.org

Here are 10 ideas for how to use media to start and continue conversations about race and racism with your kids. This list is not exhaustive, so if you have other ideas, please let us know using the thumbs-up/thumbs-down feature at the bottom of this email.

Diversify your bookshelf

If you grew up reading Anne of Green Gables and Little House on the Prairie, you can still share these classics with your kids. But don't stop there: Look for stories featuring and written by people of color. Here are some places to start:

Point out racism in movies, TV, and games

It can be easy to let stereotypes fly by when watching the minstrel-show crows in Dumbo or exaggerated accents in The Goonies. But by pointing out when something is racist, you're helping your kid develop critical-thinking skills. These skills will allow conversations about race and stereotypes to deepen as kids get older.

Watch hard stuff

As kids get older, expose them to the harsh realities of racism throughout history and through the current day. That doesn't mean nonstop cable news replaying gruesome details of violence but carefully chosen films like The 13th or McFarland, USA . You can also watch footage of protests to kick off conversations about anger, fear, oppression, and power. Be explicit about racism and discrimination being hurtful, damaging, and wrong.

Seek out media created by people of color

As you choose your family movie night pick or browse online for books, specifically look for authors and directors of color. Aim for stories that include people of color in lead roles and as fully developed characters. With older kids, take an audit of how many movies or books you've recently watched or read that were created by people of color. Discuss the reasons for any imbalance and the importance of a variety of perspectives.

Broaden your own perspectives

Follow and read Black and brown voices and media outlets. Use what you learn to inform conversations with your kids. Some places to start (and by no means a complete list):

Discuss hate speech and harassment online

Ask kids if they've seen racist language in YouTube videos or comments. For social media-using kids, talk about racist memes. Ask them to show you examples and aim to develop empathy without shaming them. Help them understand how following or sharing racist accounts helps spread hate. Brainstorm ways they can safely and responsibly speak out against racist imagery and messages online. Adapt this lesson on countering hate speech for your conversations.

Understand the online landscape

Read this account of a White mom parenting through her son's exposure to online white supremacy. And read the son's perspective. Learn more about places where White racist groups congregate and how they recruit, and keep discussions open and honest with kids who socialize on sites like Discord and Reddit.

Explore the power of tech tools

Use recent examples of how phones, video recordings, and editing tools affect our understanding of race and racism. Discuss how the release of video evidence can spur action, like in the case of Ahmaud Arbery. Explore together how photos and videos can both reveal truth and hide it—especially when context is edited out.

Build news literacy

Besides sharing news articles from different perspectives with your kids, use opportunities like protests in Minneapolis to discuss how news is presented. What kinds of stories get the most attention? How are language and images used differently to depict people and incidents depending on the news outlet, the people involved, and the topic? Look at news coverage of incidents where White people commit acts of violence and compare to when people of color do.

Teach your kid to be an ally

Learn about how White people can support people of color by being allies and then integrate these ideas into your conversations and actions with your kids. Talk through scenarios your kid might encounter online and discuss (and model) when it might be best to just listen, to call someone out, to amplify someone's voice, to share resources, etc. Share mistakes you've made around talking about race and racism—in person or online—with your kids so they know it's OK to not be perfect or have all the answers.