Monthly Archives: February 2007

by Anti-Racist Parent columnist, Amber, originally published at American Family Ever since the Chinese school incident M has been struggling to wrap her head around the idea of race. While she seemed to have an ok understanding of skin color … Continue reading →

by Carmen Van Kerckhove Sorry for the downtime, everyone! And thank you to everyone who wrote in because they couldn’t get their daily fix of Anti-Racist Parent! I won’t bore you with the details, but once again, my hero Philip … Continue reading →

by Carmen Van Kerckhove A brand-new episode (No. 61) of Addicted to Race is out! Addicted to Race is New Demographic’s weekly podcast about America’s obsession with race. Carmen is joined by guest co-host Mat Johnson in this episode. Born … Continue reading →

by Anti-Racist Parent columnist Sue Lyons-Joell As of this writing, I’m going the distance waiting for my first child to be born… so that means I am sorting, cleaning, shopping, and otherwise being as unprepared as any newbie parent. In … Continue reading →

by Carmen Van Kerckhove What’s your best tip for anti-racist parenting? I’m putting together a free e-book called How to Be an Anti-Racist Parent: Real-Life Parents Share Real-Life Tips that will be made available to everyone who visits this blog. … Continue reading →

It’s Thursday, which means it’s time for another gratuitous cute kid pic! Anti-Racist Parent Ana writes: “Sam (7) and Abe (5) portrayed the magi adoring new foster sister Zora (4 weeks) as the infant Jesus in our family nativity play … Continue reading →

by Anti-Racist Parent columnist Meera Bowman Johnson I’m a Northern black woman who grew up in a family whose idea of a traditional meal was spaghetti with meat sauce. No soul food savvy matriarchs have graced either side of my … Continue reading →

Dear Anti-Racist Parent, I was wondering if you could recommend any books or essays that deal with black and Latino relations in the U.S. I was having a conversation with my girlfriend (who is Latina) about the subject and we … Continue reading →

It’s Thursday, which means it’s time for another gratuitous cute kid pic! Anti-Racist Parent Janine deManda writes: “My daughter Morrigan, sharing her joy with the world!” If you’d like to submit a pic to us, please email us at team@loveisntenough.com. … Continue reading →

by Anti-Racist Parent columnist Mike Lee

My wife and I currently live in Central California which is different for us since it has that small town sort of feel. The majority of the population is Caucasian and Latino. Overall, there is a large conservative population here.

As a future parent, Jenny and I thought about whether we could raise a child in this area. It is completely different from what we are used to, being that I am from Orange County and my wife is from Chicago where there is significantly more ethnic diversity. Continue reading →

by Carmen Van Kerckhove

A brand-new episode (No. 59) of Addicted to Race is out! Addicted to Race is New Demographic’s weekly podcast about America’s obsession with race.

Carmen is joined by guest co-host Corbin Laedlin. Corbin is a sophomore at Rutgers University – New Brunswick where he is majoring in Africana Studies and Political Science. In the summer of 2006 he was an intern for Addicted to Race and since then he has done some outreach work for New Demographic. Continue reading →

by Carmen Van Kerckhove What’s your best tip for anti-racist parenting? I’m putting together a free e-book called How to Be an Anti-Racist Parent: Real-Life Parents Share Real-Life Tips that will be made available to everyone who visits this blog. … Continue reading →

by Anti-Racist Parent columnist Dawn Friedman

Imagine if all the books about girls were about sexism. Imagine if female characters were generally there to give the reader a history lesson about suffragettes or a cultural critique about rape. What would that do to a little girl? To only see herself against the backdrop of oppression? What would that do to a little boy? To only see women in the context of the oppressed? Fortunately there are lots of interesting female role models to keep both boys and girls reading – girls like Ramona, Nancy Drew and Anastasia Krupnik – but imagine if there weren’t.

Now think about kids’ chapter books where the main character isn’t white. Think hard. Is there a black Ramona or an Asian Nancy Drew or a Latina Anastasia?

Unfortunately, it’s difficult to find books about children of color that don’t make the kids’ color the point of the story. There just aren’t enough books about everyday kids doing everyday things where the kids happen to be African American or Chinese-American or Native American or Hispanic, etc. etc. There are many fine, laudable books (and many absolutely awful ones) about slavery and Civil Rights and the Japanese internment camps and migrant farm workers from Mexico but the ordinary kid? The one who is riding her bike or fighting with his little sister? That’s a lot tougher. Continue reading →

It’s Thursday, which means it’s time for another gratuitous cute kid pic! Anti-Racist Parent Terri in Montana wishes a happy new year to all transracially adoptive families. In the pic are William, Trevor and Hannah Jane. If you’d like to … Continue reading →

Dear Anti-Racist Parent,

I am the mother of a 9 year old son who is in the fourth grade. He attends public school. The school is racially diversified.

I have always been truthful to my son about race relations. Up until now, I have spoken to him in the most simplest of contexts: we should not hate someone because of their skin color, segregation is wrong, etc. I’ve spoken to him about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his role in the Civil Rights Movement. Nothing too complicated. No use of the “n” word.

His teacher decided to show the class the video The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. The teacher did not tell parents that she would be showing this film. That afternoon my son came home full of questions. About the role of the KKK, lynching, cross burning, and the “n” word. I spoke to him as plainly and as truthful as I could.

Continue reading →