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- “Racism is learned early on in development, and children receive many messages about race and racism from a young age.” Kids pick up on what their parents and teachers say (and don’t say), who and what they see on TV, what their dolls look like, and how other people are treated in their schools and neighborhoods.
www.apa.org/monitor/2021/06/anti-racist-children
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May 18, 2023 · Psychologists are studying the processes by which young children learn about race. Dismantling White supremacy and other forms of racism won’t be easy, but children can be taught to do better than their parents’ generations did.
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Explore various resources to help you talk to kids about...
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Kathryn Becker-Blease, PhD, is a developmental psychologist...
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The budding field of children’s racial learning is deeply rooted in the science of child development. Mounting evidence demonstrates that children are noticing, processing, and making meaning of race early and often, beginning in infancy — long before they are walking and talking.
Mar 9, 2023 · Research published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General in 2021 found that U.S. adults believe children should be almost 5 years old before talking with them about race, even though some infants are aware of race and preschoolers may have already developed racist beliefs.
Aug 10, 2020 · Teaching race awareness and building empathy and emotional literacy will equip children to see race and racism, feel the pain, anger and anguish it's causing them and others and then learn to take age-appropriate action.
- Learning About Race and Unlearning Racism
- One Teacher’s Work
- Committing to Teaching For Equity and Justice
In her seminal research and writing on this topic, Beverly Daniel Tatum (a former psychology professor and president of Spelman College) has written extensively about the ways in which the unjust structure of racial hierarchy in American society is normalized and transmitted to children from birth (Tatum 2003). In discussing how messages about race...
Ms. Verwayne teaches kindergarten at a racially and economically diverse public school. Born in Guyana, she moved to the United States at the age of 6 and recalls that when she entered school, she was made to feel like an outsider because of cultural differences. She reported, “When I was in elementary school, I felt like I had to hide my culture s...
This article, along with the suggested resources, provides a starting point for teachers and families seeking to do the important work of supporting young children’s learning and understanding about race and racism. As Ms. Verwayne’s experiences illustrate, this work is both challenging and essential. Concluding her reflections on her own experienc...
Jun 25, 2020 · If your child likes to read, include books when teaching them about racism, Shanice Nicole advises. (CBC) It's also incredibly important that you share stories and resources that are not just...
Jun 15, 2020 · Infants as young as six months old can recognize differences in skin color. By age two and a half, research has shown, children prefer playmates who are similar in race and gender. And as early as age three, they are forming judgments about people based on racial differences.
