Often children are not given a platform and space to talk about race and how it affects them. It is important that we support kids in sharing their experiences and voices speaking up about their experiences with race and racism. With support and guidance, white children can become confident in talking about their experiences with race, whiteness, power, and their relationship to the racial inequities they notice around them.
In 2015, the United States saw high-profile police shootings plus the deadly attack on a black church in South Carolina. During this time, middle school teachers told WNYC their classrooms were abuzz with personal and sometimes difficult conversations. And they didn’t always feel prepared to handle what came up. In WNYC’s Being 12 series, we explore the topic of talking about race and racism to children in the pre-teenage years. In this video, we hear directly from the students. They answer the question “who am I?”