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In this issue: school segregation gains traction; the black dad you don’t think exists; responding to kids’ hate speech; how parents of color feel about our kids’ schools; talking about race in mostly white schools ... and so much more!


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Welcome (back) to EmbraceRace, where we gather to support each other in matters of race and raising kids. Thanks for the posts submitted and the articles and resources sent, some of which you’ll find in this newsletter.

We noticed after compiling this newsletter that it contains more articles than usual that will bum you out! Some weeks, that's how it goes. On the bright side, our community is developing the supports and foregrounding the strategies that will make each of us stronger than we would be alone in raising resilient kids of color and racially inclusive, literate and brave kids of all stripes. Our monthly EmbraceRace Conversations are one vehicle for sharpening our critical race lenses and developing better tools to do this work. Case in point, next Tuesday's conversation ...

On May 23rd at 8:30 pm ET, join us for Understanding Racial Identity Development with Dr. Sandra "Chap" Chapman. Chap will share racial identity models and guide us in using them to better understand ourselves and support the kids in our lives. Register here to participate live and/or to receive a link to the recording later.

See you then!


Andrew and Melissa
hugs@embracerace.org

Do your kids really know that Black Lives Matter?

"I’m gutted that another Black child has died. I’m gutted that another Black child has been brutalized in his school. I’m gutted that my Black friends and neighbors are hurting. But until I am willing to act on the strong emotions that surface at the latest injustice, I remain part of the problem and not the solution. I refuse to set that example for my children."
My white children know Black Lives Matter. Do yours?
Shannon Cofrin Gaggero, EmbraceRace
[5-minute read]

“The black dad you don’t think exists”

“The black dad that you don’t think exists sneaks his son a taste of whipped cream. He says he can’t believe a day will come when his son won’t give him unlimited cuddles. He lets his son use his dreadlocks as handlebars to pull himself into a standing position. He wishes he could make a room entirely out of pillows so his baby never fell down on anything hard.

“The black dad that you don’t think exists does. And he is not an anomaly.”

The Black Dad That You Don’t Think Exists
Dominique Matti, HuffPo
[3-minute read]

Many parents of color say racism holds their kids back in school

"What’s more, many black and Latino families report feeling like schools aren’t even trying to educate their children. This feeling was particularly acute among black parents, whose kids attend schools with mostly white teachers, with 50 percent reporting feeling this way."

 

Good news! On not pushing black girls out of school

“After three years, suspensions are down by two-thirds school-wide, and are well below the national rate for girls of color.”

Here’s how one Memphis school is changing the way it disciplines girls of color
Caroline Bauman, Chalkbeat

[3-minute read]

School segregation popular with whites across red and blue states

“Local control has become a popular rallying cry in municipalities across the nation—including liberal states like New York and California—that want to form their own school districts. They all have their reasons, and the reasons all sound reasonable, but …”
Whites Only: School Segregation Is Back: From Birmingham to San Francisco
Alexander Nazaryan, Newsweek
[10-minute read]

Does racism harm children’s health? Yep.  

"’This research complements a growing literature documenting the wide range of effects that racial discrimination has on health across the life course,’ says Thayer of Anderson's work. ‘These findings suggest that some individuals may be predisposed to poorer health in adulthood based on discrimination experiences in early life.'"
Racism Harms Children’s Health, Survey Finds
Ben Panko, Smithsonian.com
[4-minute read]

Study shows we are doing a great job of passing prejudices down to our kids

"The results revealed biases that ‘parallel those found in public opinion polls with adults,’ Brown and her colleagues write. ‘Arab Muslim men were perceived by children to be less American and angrier relative to others. Compared to prototypic members of other ethnic groups, even when described as having been born in the U.S., children perceived the Muslim Arab American to be the ‘least American’ of individuals from all ethnic groups.’”
Children Absorb Anti-Muslim Prejudice at An Early Age
Pacific Standard Magazine
[3-minute read]
Resources to use with kids
 

Talking about race in mostly white schools

"[I]f students in the class are mostly white, Rollins suggests that teachers can probe that, too. Teachers can ask, “When or how have you thought about being white? When was the first time you interacted with someone who wasn’t white?” This line of questioning can help young people recognize how their lived experiences might be different from those of people of color."

Talking About Race in Mostly White Schools
Leah Shafer, Useable Knowledge
[4-minute read]

An educator's approach to ending hate speech in the classroom

"If we’re going to get to the heart of hate speech in America today, we must remember that significant elements of our cultural history were built on inequity—from the founding of the country and displacement of indigenous populations to the Civil War and slavery. This inequity has bred a history of demonization of the 'other.' Hate speech is just one manifestation of this dynamic."

How to Respond When Students Use Hate Speech
Richard Curwin, Edutopia
[5-minute read]

Read more stories from the EmbraceRace community on Medium

Your turn

Critiques, ideas, collaboration? Email us at hugs@embracerace.org (or simply respond to this email).

EmbraceRace is grateful for the generous support of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the NoVo Foundation - and people like you!
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