Summary: Living in a racially unjust and deeply segregated nation creates unique conundrums for white children that begin early in life and impact development in powerful ways. Dr. Jennifer Harvey offers age-appropriate insights for teaching children how to address racism when they encounter it and tackles tough questions about how to help white kids be mindful of racial relations while understanding their own identity and the role they can play for justice.
My Thoughts: I loved this book. I thought it had so many compelling points that I never would have thought of before. So many of my generation were raised to be colorblind, to not notice or point out color. And I don't blame our parents generation, they were doing what they thought was best. Unfortunately, colorblindness also leaves us blind to the fact that we're still not done fighting injustice. So, if colorblindness is out, what do we teach our children? Many may say that the right course is to teach them to value diversity, to love everyone and our differences. Which also sounds great but leaves one problem: when we celebrate diversity and difference, whiteness is not one of the things you are allowed to celebrate. There's really no such thing as "white culture" and while the messages of "black is beautiful" are encouraged, nearly everyone would recoil to hear someone chant "white is beautiful!" or "I love my gorgeous white skin!" So where does that leave us? We end up even more racially divided than ever because white kids end up feeling guilty or like something is wrong with their whiteness.
I had never really thought about any of this before. This book left me with so many great ideas about how to raise my children to be kind to others, celebrate diversity, be comfortable in their own skin, and also to actively work to fight against injustice, be aware of the systems that benefit them disproportionately because of their skin color, and cultivate meaningful relationships with people of color throughout their lives.
I highly recommend this book. You may not agree with absolutely everything that the book says, and that's ok but hopefully you can come away with some new ideas you had never considered before.
"Being white in a system of white racial hierarchy negatively impacts white people's humanity and health every day, even as it harms and negatively impacts people of color every day. We cannot fully enable children who are white to be healthy until we have created a truly just world. And so our goal as parents is not - and must not simply be - to teach our children to be more inclusive, embracing, and curious humans....Our goal must be to bring them along with us...as we work to change this world."
