Children and Parents
How do children learn racial bias?
Children learn about racial differences and racial bias from an early age and learn from their first teachers—their parents.The process of learning racial bias is a lot like learning a new language (e.g., a child raised bilingual vs. a child who starts learning Spanish in junior high). Biology determines a critical early learning period as well as a later window where learning is much harder.
At birth, babies look equally at all faces regardless of race. By 3-months, babies look more at faces that resemble their caregivers
Children as young as 2 will use race to reason or presume things about behavior
By ages 2 to 4, children can internalize racial bias and tend to choose playmates based on race
Ages 4-5 children verbalize explicit racial prejudices and associate racial groups with social statues
By age 12, many children become fairly set in their beliefs—giving parents a decade to mold the learning process, so that it decreases racial bias and improves cultural understanding.
Additional Resources:
Multiracial Identity Development during a Sociopolitical Moment Hinged upon Identity Politics, Victoria Alexander
Talking to Children About Racial Bias, Healthy Children.org
Are Your Kids Too Young To Talk About Race? The Conscious Kid
The “New Racism” of K–12 Schools: Centering Critical Research on Racism, Kohli, Pizzaro, Nevárez
31 Children's books to support conversations on race, racism and resistance, EmbraceRace.org
Black Girls Matter: Pushed Out, Overpoliced, and Underprotected, Crenshaw.
These Books Can Help You Explain Racism and Protest to Your Kids, New York Times
The Conscious Kid: Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Multiracial college students’ experiences with multiracial microaggressions, Jessica Harris
How racism harms children, Harvard Medical School
How to Talk to Kids about Racism and Race, Maxine Johnson, That Sister
What We Learned From Our Children: Raising Black Children Across Racial Lines Roundtable, The Cradle
Transracial Adoptees On Their Racial Identity And Sense Of Self, NPR's Code Switch