Race is one part of every child’s identity. Society passes on messages about what it means to belong to a racial group. Some of these messages are positive, celebrating what it means to be Black or Latinx or Asian or Indigenous, or White. Others provide negative views of race in subtle and not-so-subtle ways.
Dr. Ashley Woodson has created a series of lessons about race and racism for children and their families to explore together. This one focuses on how children are racially socialized. Read the rest of this post with children ages 5-12 years and engage in the italicized activities together.
The first place we learn about race is from the adults who take care of us when we’re little. Our parents, caregivers, and early teachers share messages about race through their words and actions. Sharing and learning messages about race is called racial socialization.
What is your racial identity? (pause for responses) Who helped you know? Draw a picture of some of the people who have helped you understand your racial identity.
There are two kinds of messages about race. Explicit messages about race are shared on purpose. This happens when someone chooses to teach you important lessons about your history, culture or how to make friends with people of other races.
What explicit messages about race have you heard? Role play some positive explicit messages that you want to share with others.
We learn implicit messages about race through what we see and hear. We connect these messages like pieces of a puzzle. We can share implicit messages even when we don’t mean to. Imagine if all the teachers, leaders, religious ministers, and politicians you meet are one race. If people in positions of power all look the same, we may think that one race is better at leadership than another. It’s not true, but it matches our experiences and fits into our puzzle.
Or, if you hear racist jokes about other communities at home, you might start to believe that different cultures don’t deserve respect. No one taught you disrespect on purpose, but you still learned that it’s okay to laugh at some people and not others.
What implicit lessons about race have you learned? Make a list and sort them into positive and negative messages.
Explicit and implicit messages about race are everywhere, but the ones we learn from our families have a special influence on our thinking. That’s because we spend a lot of time with family members and tend to trust what they say and do. They can help us manage our big emotions when other people say or do things that are racially disrespectful to us or others.
Close your eyes and imagine that someone calls you a bad name because of your race. (pause) How do you feel? (pause) You tell a family member what was said. (pause) What does that family member say to you? (pause) How does that family member suggest that you respond? (pause) Take a deep breath in (pause) and let it out (pause). Open your eyes and share what you imagined.
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