Race & Young Children: Promoting Positive Racial Identity, Equity & Respect

In what ways do babies and very young children experience the negative effects of racism? When do children become aware of skin color or other ways they are the same as or different from their peers?   In this episode of Mom Enough, sponsored by supporting partner Help Me Grow Minnesota, Erin and Marti talk with Andre Dukes, Vice President of Family and Community Impact at Northside Achievement Zone in Minneapolis, about factors that enable children of color to build a positive identity from the earliest months and years of life. That can’t happen without all of us doing our part, so the discussion zooms in on how we can support all young children in getting to know, respect and appreciate others, whatever their skin color and ethnic or cultural background. First, we need to recognize that race is not a scientific concept, but a social construct created to colonize and control people. Yet, that construct somehow influences children as early as two years, when too many children have absorbed the idea that “white” is better than “Black.”   Listen to what research shows about babies as young as six months developing an awareness of skin color, the meaning they make of that as toddlers, and the words and actions of others that shape children’s judgments of self and other. Then join Andre, Marti and Erin in thinking about what parents, educators and anyone who wants strong, healthy, safe communities can do now to make sure all children being born today learn a better way to live in our diverse world.   WHAT SURPRISES YOU ABOUT THE DEVELOPMENT OF RACIAL IDENTITY IN EARLY CHILDHOOD? In this discussion with Andre Dukes, what surprised you about what babies and toddlers discover and learn about the meaning of skin color and race? In what ways do you try to promote positive attitudes and behaviors related to skin color and different ethnic or cultural backgrounds? What ideas did you hear that you could put into practice with babies and young children in your family, classroom, place of worship or community?     WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT RACISM OR RAISING EMPATHETIC CHILDREN? ❉ “THE TALK”: HOW PARENTS PROTECT THEIR BLACK CHILDREN FROM RACISM. Andre Dukes discusses the necessity of “the talk,” which he describes as Black parents, or parents of Black children, “preparing their children to enter into this world where they are unfairly judged and stereotyped.” He shares personal reflections, gives tips for protecting Black children’s innocence while making them aware of the dangers they face due to racism, and calls on all parents, regardless of race, to teach their children empathy and the importance of standing up when they see injustice. Tune in to hear the wisdom and critical insights of a leading parenting expert in Minneapolis, Andre Dukes.   ❉ MOTHERHOOD SO WHITE: A DISCUSSION ON RACE, ADOPTION, AND PARENTING IN TODAY’S WORLD. What can a mother do when she doesn’t see herself in the pages of parenting books? Or when the resources don’t address her greatest concerns? As a single Black woman who chose to become a mother through adoption, author Nefertiti Austin took to writing her own experiences in her critically acclaimed memoir, Motherhood So White: A Memoir of Race,