Race and Racism with Young Children and their Families

Time to Apply Critical Thinking:
Racial bias and inequity show up in various ways in the interactions between children, in the interactions between adults, and in the interactions between families and the school. Here are just some examples of how racism might show up in early childhood settings: Mispronouncing, making fun of, or shortening children’s names that are not traditionally “White” names, assuming a Spanish‑speaking Latino/a child is undocumented, assuming children eat only foods that are stereotypically assigned to a specific culture or ethnicity, favoring one group of children over other groups, such as calling on some children while ignoring others based on race, gender, language, class, etc., treating a child differently because of their hair style, language, style of clothing, or other cultural ways of being, assigning roles based on gender or race, such as boys and White children being assigned leadership roles and girls and Black and Brown children being relegated to subservient roles, stereotyping Black girls as too loud, too angry, or too sassy and assuming big Black boys are aggressive, misinterpreting or inaccurately labeling children’s actions and ways of being as defiant, assuming families of color don’t care about their children (Iruka et al. 2020)
Please read the two articles Becoming Upend: Teaching and learning about Race and Racism with Young Children and Their Families and Creating Anti-Racist Early Childhood Spaces
After reading take time to reflect on your own experiences growing up within our racist society and how this has influenced how you operate in the world—where you live, where you send your children to school-if applicable, and with whom you socialize. Answer the questions below in paragraph format.
1) Do you self‑isolate, and if so, is it out of fear or comfort?
2) How have your experiences on racism and your worldview contributed to how you understand what it means to be part of a high‑quality early childhood program? (Provide detailed response)
3) How would you teach children about race in an early childhood classroom?
4) What is something you learned from the article that you will use in your early childhood settings?

Last Completed Projects