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Talk About Racism at Home

Week 16: Ideas for talking about racism

Use your next family meeting to seriously talk about what’s happening in society with protests, changing laws, riots, and the history of why it’s happening.

Read books and ask questions such as:

  • Are you scared or just uncomfortable? What about?
  • Have you ever witnessed someone being treated in way that didn’t seem fair? What did you do? Did anyone help?
  • Who do we know that is of a different race?
  • Do we know any police officers?
  • What do we expect of police officers?

Discuss important topics such as:

  • Important vocabulary: What is a race of people? What is bias? A protest? What does “systemic” mean? Look up the acronyms you don’t know.
  • How labels like “normal” and “other” are relative.
  • Share stories of your own related to racism. Use analogies to sexism, ageism, different physical capabilities, etc.
  • What to do when you see something that isn’t right.

Make a poster to act as a visual reminder:

  • “In This Home We Believe …” (then list your beliefs).

Commentary:

In this week’s family bonding challenge we’re looking at topics to start the discussion about racism, bias, otherness, and our awareness or lack thereof.

The ideas listed here are just a starting off point. Your insight and experience are paramount in shaping your child’s perceptions. You don’t have to be an expert; you just have to be willing to learn.

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Somer Loomis

Somer is the Chief Content Officer at Raising Families living in Southern California with her seven-year-old son and two-year-old daughter. She spent 10 years in the architecture field as a designer and medical planner and now applies her love of integrative thinking and big-picture planning to her family and career.

In her free time she loves to try new recipes she knows her children will never eat and do art projects she saved on Pinterest at least five years ago. Read full bio >>

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