It’s Uncomfortable and Awkward to Talk With Your Kids About Racism. Do It Anyway.

My friend Avani was watching the news when two pairs of small feet walked into the room: those belonging to her lanky ten-year-old and pint-sized six-year-old boys. They happened to see the news story about George Floyd, catching the image of a police officer with his knee on a Black man’s neck, squeezing the life out of him.

She didn’t mean for them to see the news clip, but there it was, out in the open. She addressed it in the way she tackles hard topics about race in her household, head on. Avani is an American of Indian heritage, as is her husband. In our upper-middle-class neighborhood, she is used to standing out because of the color of her brown skin.

Her first grader snuggled up next to her and said, “Mama, will that happen to me? I have black skin too.”

Avani was taken off guard but recovered quickly and did her best to explain the nuances of socioeconomic status, privilege, and education in a way her sons could understand. It’s a conversation that will happen over and over in the households of people of color across the country, and ideally across white households as well. Avani wrapped up her talk with her boys about standing up for others if they see something is going wrong and challenged them to think about how they could help.


Kristin Shaw
Kristin Shawhttp://www.kristinvshaw.com/
Freelance writer, wife, and mother of a mini-Texan, Kristin Shaw blogs at KristinVShaw.com from Austin, where she eats a lot of queso and has a fantastic mom network both near and far. Facebook/ Twitter/ Instagram: @KristinVShaw

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