talking to kids about racism is an act of kindness & an act of freedom.

and it is mandatory work.

“People with light tan colored skin, called white people, often tell lies and treat people with brown skin like they don't deserve everything white people have. This is a violent story that gets told, and we must work hard so we never believe this story. Does anyone have any thoughts about this?

If you ever notice anything about how people get treated based on how they look, or the color of their skin, I always would love to talk about this with you, or with the whole class. Many people will tell you this is not an okay thing to talk about, but that might just be becuase they feel nervous about talking about it. It’s okay to be nervous, but it is important to me to have a classroom where we know talking about skin color and race is okay.

Every week we, a group of parents and educators, hold space to talk about HOW to do this work. We share some elements and structure of our group, in case other communities are interested in organizing anything similar!

Purpose of a weekly meeting:1. To establish personal intention and values around anti-racism work and to build a toolbox to be able to align values with action in everyday life with young children. 2. To build community with folks who have a shared belief that this work is mandatory, and also hard.

One possible structure:In a Cirlce format, using a talking piece, we do four rounds, each round lead by prompt1. Introductions: what is something meaningful about yourself?2. Group agreements: what do you need from the group to create a space you can share your truth?3. Check in: what is a need alive in you right now?4. Story telling: what is an experience you have had recently related to talking with kids about race or racism?In workshop format, without a talking piece:1. Chose one or two stories shared in the previous round and workshop di�erent ways you could respond or engage in that situation (break up into small groups if needed)2. Role play the scenarios in front of the whole group In circle format:3. Check out: What is one thing you will take away from this meeting?

Possible group guidelines:Impact is more important than intent.We are here to learn.Everyone, and their experiences, belong.We share space and are thoughtful to power.We take care of ourselves and come and go as we need.We don’t use racially violent language, even in telling a story or quoting someone, for example the N-word.

Working definition of RACISM

Racial prejudice + power = racism

Institutional or systemic racism means that people with skin that is pinkish or tanish, who are called white people, get more money for working the same amount or less, just because they are white. They get bigger houses and places to live that have more parks and schools with more books, just because they are white. They get jobs that pay more money, just because they are white. They have a better chance to go to a doctor when they are sick, just because they are white. This is unfair and we must work together to change this. And people with brown skin, who may be called Black people, are sent to jail more and kicked out of school more, when they do the exact same thing that white people do. They also get pulled over by the police more and get hurt by the police more, even when they aren’t doing anything wrong at all. This is unfair and we must work together to change this.

Working definition of WHITE SUPREMACY

White supremacy is a lie that says people with light tan skin are more import-ant, and deserve to have more money, safety, space and power to make deci-sions for others, than people with brown skin. This is an untrue idea people have, but also an idea that the government, banks, stores and hosiptals have, and they use this idea to give more money and power to people with light tan skin, even when they don’t need it.

“Race means the color of your skin plus how much the government helps you be healthy and safe”.

Talking to kids about racism myth busting! Myth: It’s not age appropriate! Children notice race as young as 6 months and by three, not only do children notice the consequences of racism, white children use racism and white supremacy to feel con�dent. Erin Winkler, author of Children Are Not Colorblind writes, “3-5 year olds in a racially and ethnically diverse day care center used racial categories to identify themselves and others, to include or exclude children from activities, and to negotiate power in their own social/play networks”. Children not only see color, they also notice many of the results of racism in the world around them and in the media. They actually use race to make decisions about what kind of relationships they have, and what they think of people. White children engage in racism, and children of all races notice and experience racism, since the way they are treated, and who has what, is often heavily depen-dent on skin complexion and hair texture. Children who experience racism bene�t from having space and language to talk through and process their experiences. After a year of watching a group of preschoolers of di�erent races, ethnici-ties, �rst languages and nationalities, researcher Deborah Van Ausdale, author of The First R concluded, “most of the young white children in our study are helping to build, or rebuild, a racialized society with their own hands with materials learned from the racial order of the adult world surrounding them”. Children participate in racism, and experience racism, so it’s age appropri-ate to talk about racism!

“This country tells you because you have light tan skin everything belongs to you, but that is not true. it is not okay to go to Jacob’s house and look through his mom’s purse.”

Foundational beliefs//the place from where we do this work:

Racism and white supremacy are deeply ingrained in our government and culture and continuously transform and mutate to stay potent.White people have a deep responsibility to reject the myth of white supremacy.White people have a deep responsibility not just for conversation, but action, every day.Colorblindness is a form of racism.Because children experience and participate in racism as young as 3, it is vital to help them understand this system in order to �ght it.

“Lies were told about people with brown skin to

explain why they were made to work without

getting paid any money. That is called slavery. Even

though people with brown skin now usually

get paid money to work, a lot of people with light tan skin, called white people, still tell those lies. This can

make it hard for people with brown skin

to get important things, like the jobs, homes,

doctors, or teachers they need and want.”

Image by Maya Gonzalez

“In our skin there are tiny grains of coloring called melanin. If you have dark skin, the melanin in your body is very active. If you have light skin, the melanin in your body is not very busy... if your parents, your grand-parents, and your ancestors from a long time ago, lived in a place where there was a lot of sunshine and heat, they probably had dark skin. If they lived in a place with less sun and heat, they probably had light skin.” (Kissinger, All the Colors We Are)

Talking to kids about racism myth busting!

Why shatter children’s “innocence”? While it may be true that some children are “blissfully” unaware of the violence of the world, research suggests this “innocence” or ignorance, does not actually even exist, even for white children. Studies show that not only do children see race, they notice how race organizes people, and they use race to navigate relationships. Therefore, talking about racism is not actually “telling them about something they didn’t even know existed,” but helping them understand what they witness, experience and/or participate in every day. The danger is that they aren’t taught that racism is built by white people on purpose, to hoard money and power. This can lead them, along with many racist messages they see in media, to assume then that inequality is a re�ection of people’s intelligence, capability, or skills, which is untrue.

Strategies: Jill MacFarlane, the director of a family grief center, o�ers some strate-gies around how she talks to young children about death, and suicide, that we have found to also be very helpful in how we imagine to talk with young kids about race and racism*.

1. Start with one simple concrete honest sen-tence. Kids will ask questions as they are ready to hear the answers.

2. Talk to kids about their 5 senses--things they have seen, felt, heard, smelled, or tasted. [Hearing something on the radio or a child only having white teachers at a school with a majority non-white janitorial staff is a child experiencing racism with their 5 senses.] 3. Use vocabulary words children can understand.

*https://emmaredden.com/2017/05/09/she-talks-to-3-year-olds-about-suicide/

“The police made a choice to make the his body stop working. He had brown skin and I wish he was still live because his life is very important. ”