How to Talk to Your Kids About Race

February is African American History Month when schoolchildren throughout America learn about the struggles African Americans have faced in our country. Today, Mighty Mommy interviews author and activist, Dr. Brittney Cooper, and gets her expertise on how parents can discuss the sensitive subject of race with their children. 

Brittney Cooper is a professor of Women's and Gender Studies and Africana Studies at Rutgers University. She cofounded the Crunk Collective, and her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, Ebony, and The Root, among many others. In 2017, she was named to The Root 100 List, and in 2018, to the Essence Woke 100 List. You can pick up her latest book, Eloquent Rage, and read more of her writing in the upcoming book Queen Bey: A Celebration of the Power and Creativity of Beyonce Knowles-Carter, both available wherever books are sold.

We invite you to join us as Mighty Mommy and Brittney Cooper chat about raising kids in a world where racial issues still exist and how we can help our children embrace different races and cultures with an open mind and heart.

Some of the questions we discuss are:

• An appropriate age to introduce children to ethnicity and different races.
• Tangible examples of how we can explain different ethnicities to our kids.
• How parents can make race a non-issue. Should it be a non-issue?
• Things parents SHOULD NOT say when talking to their kids about race.
• How parents can explain racial slurs and stereotypes to a child who has just heard them for the first time. 
• How to talk to children about race if spouses/partners disagree on the subject.
• How families can make African American History Month more meaningful.

How do you talk about race with your child? Please share your thoughts in the comments section at quickanddirtytips.com/mighty-mommy, post your ideas on the Mighty Mommy Facebook page. or email me at mommy@quickanddirtytips.com. Visit my family-friendly boards at Pinterest.com/MightyMommyQDT.

Are you listening to the Mighty Mommy podcast? Let me know what you're...

Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips