In case you missed this....
Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman's fascinating piece on educating young children about race was fortunate to make the front page of Newsweek Magazine last month. The article, "See Baby Discriminate," published in the September 14th issue, reports on a recent study that suggests talking explicitly and openly with your child about race is the best way to guide her toward positive racial attitudes. According to Bronson and Merryman, speaking with children about race leads to better understandings of historical discrimination, equips them to challenge assumptions of racial superiority, and makes the simple act of talking about race less taboo.
Judging from the statistics presented, those most in need of a "heart to heart" are white families:
"What parents say depends heavily on their own race: a 2007 study in the Journal of Marriage and Family found that out of 17,000 families with kindergartners, nonwhite parents are about three times more likely to discuss race than white parents; 75 percent of the latter never, or almost never, talk about race."
Silence on the topic of race inhibits vital teachings of diversity, disparity, and discrimination.
See what materials the RACE Project offers, and begin a conversation with the young people in your life today: http://understandingrace.org/resources/index.html.