Adults Put Off Crucial Conversations About Race Because They Mistakenly Think Young Children Won ’t Understand

By Emily Reynolds Conversations about race are not always easy, as the writer Reni Eddo-Lodge has recently explored in her brilliant book Why I’m No Longer Talking To White People About Race. But they’re no less necessary for it: not talking about racism is simply not an option, particularly for those of us who benefit from structural inequality. We all have a part to play in this ongoing dialogue — including parents of children growing up in a world full of racial injustice. Previous research has suggested that constructive conversations about race and ethnicity can have positive outcomes for children of all races — increased empathy, an ability to learn about and accept different perspectives, a better understanding of their own identity, and less racial bias. But a new paper from Jessica Sullivan at Skidmore College and colleagues, published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, suggests that those crucial conversations are being delayed — because parents are misjudging their children’s ability to process and understand race. In the first two studies, the researchers asked almost 1,200 participants to indicate on a sliding scale the earliest age at which they would talk to children about race. Participants also stated what age, in months, they believed children developed certain behaviours and abilities. These questions focused on three areas: development of behaviours around race (e.g. the age at which children begin to prefer faces from th...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Babies Developmental Educational Source Type: blogs