Children are not colorblind: Why early conversations about race are essential

Discussing racism with children can seem daunting to parents, caregivers and educators for several reasons. Often, it can feel uncomfortable talking about people’s differences; conversations about racism reveal implicit biases and, for some, immense privilege. However, research shows that even young children are typically curious about people’s racial differences. Infants as young as 3 months old can notice skin color and facial feature differences. Children as young as 2 or 3 can assign positive or negative meanings to race. Many begin choosing friends who look like them and can develop racial bias. While families have a range of practices to address these issues, Black parents have been found to talk about race and racism with their children more than white parents. News reports on police and immigration enforcement brutality have prompted many parents of color to speak candidly with their children about racism. These conversations aren’t limited to home. Decades of research and K-12 classroom experiences show that educators and caregivers can begin to speak with children as young as 3 years old about racism in a manner that they can understand. As scholars of race, language, culture and literacy, we think it is critical to be ready to talk about race and racism with young children. Doing so would help them participate in society by working to confront historical and modern injustices. There are also some children’s books that we think can help approach these conversations. Parents and educators can speak with children as young as 3 years old in an age-appropriate way about race and racism. monkeybusinessimages/iStock/Getty Images Plus Preparing for tough conversations Research tends to underemphasize the importance of whether adults are prepared to have conversations with children about race, justice and equity. Before speaking with children on the subject, we think it is helpful for adults themselves to recognize and critically examine how race and racism operate in their own lives and society. Parents and caregivers can educate themselves about the history of racism in their region and country, perhaps by visiting museums that focus on the experiences of different racial and ethnic communities, or expanding what they read. Adults can also build book collections for the children in their lives that center on joy, play, love, family, friendship, imagination, creativity and people of color’s everyday lives. How to talk about race Talking to children about race is healthy and important, and it does not mean you are racist. Parents and caregivers can normalize discussing how skin color, ethnicity, culture and language appear in children’s everyday lives, as well as in popular culture, like movies, songs and TV shows. “Sesame Street”, for example, has been a bastion of diversity and inclusion since its premiere in 1969. Children and adults can listen together to Sesame Street songs like, “Listen, Act, Unite,” “Proud of Your Eyes” and “I Love My Hair,” and then talk with children about what the lyrics mean. By contrast, adopting colorblindness – saying that you don’t see race – denies children a vocabulary to understand race. Simply making race visible for young children through the books they read, shows they watch and conversations they have creates the foundation for children to engage in more complex discussions about inequality and injustice as they get older. Adults can help children identify where they see injustices and help them brainstorm the changes they would like to see and how they can act to bring about better, more just communities. Adults can also share histories of child and youth activism around the world to help children understand that young people, not only adults, have the power to create societal change and fight racial, socioeconomic and environmental inequality. For example, as a sixth grader in 2015, American writer and activist Marley Dias felt that there were very few books that celebrated and centered Black girls as protagonists. She launched a book drive, #1000BlackGirlBooks, to collect at least 1,000 books with Black girls as central characters and heroes. Marley collected over 13,000 books and donated them to schools in the U.S. and Jamaica. The role of children’s literature Children’s literature can offer a powerful way to help young children have honest, historically informed conversations about race and racism. Here are a few books we recommend: “The Talk,” for example, is a 2022 book that is authored by Alicia D. Williams and illustrated by Briana Mukodiri Uchendu and is aimed at early-elementary-aged kids. The story details a conversation between a mother and her Black son about how white strangers, and police officers in particular, might see him and other young children of color primarily through the lens of race. The book can be a launching point to understand the conversations many Black families have with their children about interacting with police and avoiding potentially dangerous confrontations with law enforcement. “Separate is Never Equal” is a 2014 award-winning picture book authored and illustrated by Duncan Tonatiuh. In this book, which is also available in Spanish, Tonatiuh spotlights the Supreme Court’s 1947 Mendez v. Westminster landmark case, a precursor to the court’s 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision. The story showcases how 11-year-old Sylvia Mendez, a Mexican American girl, and her family resisted the school district’s mandate of school segregation for Mexican American residents through the courts. The Mendez v. Westminster ruling determined that the forced segregation of Mexican American students into separate schools was unconstitutional. “Rez Kid,” a picture book aimed at children ages 4 to 7, was written by Andrea Landry and Isabella Fassler in 2025. It tells the story of an Indigenous child whose peers bully her on the school bus because she lives on a reservation. She tells her elders about the bullying, and they each offer an array of advice about what to do. She decides that the best way to change her peers’ perspectives is to have them recognize the beauty of the reservation and her cultural traditions by visiting and experiencing it firsthand. Songju Ma Daemicke’s 2025 book, “Grace Lee Boggs: Gardens of Hope” introduces young readers to Chinese American activist and philosopher Grace Lee Boggs and her lifelong work for justice and Black and Asian American solidarity in Detroit and across the United States from the 1950s until her death in 2015. Grace Lee Boggs speaks on stage during an event featuring a documentary about her life in June 2013 in Los Angeles. Amanda Edwards/WireImage Believe in children’s ability to understand Without explicit conversations and learning about race and racial inequities, children can believe stereotypes, cause harm to others and make false assumptions about what causes inequality. At the same time, adults should appreciate that young children are able to understand and learn alongside them. Children notice, question, make connections, recognize injustice, engage in social justice work and imagine possibilities. We believe that adults have a responsibility to create the conditions for children to deepen these understandings and recognize that they can shape the world around them.