Critical socialization in White families: Lessons learned from an antiracist parenting program

Abstract

Background

Racial bias develops at an early age, yet most White parents promote color-evasive racial ideology or do not address race with children. There is a need for White parents to have developmentally appropriate race-conscious conversations with young children to address bias and facilitate antiracist values.

Objectives

This paper describes program development, theoretical foundations, implementation challenges, and lessons learned from the pilot of an antiracist parent training program. The program is a six-session training for White parents of preschool-aged children. Grounded in family science, it incorporates children's literature and guidance for parent–child communication on race and racism.

Applied Experience

There was high interest in the program and participants responded well to the opportunity to learn from other parents. Considerable variability in parents' racial awareness impacted complexity of discussions and influenced parents' responses. Notably, child factors influenced parent outcomes, suggesting bidirectionality in racial socialization processes.

Conclusion and Implications

Parent training may be a promising avenue for addressing Whiteness and promoting antiracist action. There is a need to consider program implementation in different settings, such as with different facilitators or in less politically progressive communities. Future programs should consider how to encourage critical self-reflection and facilitate complex discussions toward antiracist skill building.