Books and Articles for Introducing Race and Racism to Children
 Want more resources on instilling a positive racial and cultural identity in kids, educating kids about racism, and learning more about your child's ethnic heritage—and the stereotypes that accompany it? Read books selected by the editors of Adoptive Families, as well as the following articles from past issue of AF:
Teaching Kids About Racism and Dealing with Stereotypes
A Book for Parents:
Hate Hurts: How Children Learn and Unlearn Prejudice, by the Anti-Defamation League, Caryl Stern-LaRosa, and Ellen Hoffheimer Bettmann
Books for Children:
Dealing With Racism, by Jen Green
Let's Talk About Racism, by Diane Shaughnessy
The Skin I'm In: A First Look at Racism, by Pat Thomas
AF Articles
Culture, Heritage, and Stereotypes
by Jerri Ann Jenista
If we don't help our children understand stereotypes who will?
Raising A Child of Another Race
by Jana Wolff
Deliberate Parenting Can Make a Difference
Put Yourself to the Test
Can I parent a child of another race?
Of course you don't think of yourself as racist, but almost all of us have been raised in a race-conscious society. Before you choose to adopt a child of another race, test yourself for what's called "implicit bias"—unconscious racism.
Raising Asian Kids
A Book for Parents:
Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White , by Frank H. Wu
A Book for Children:
We Adopted You, Benjamin Koo , by Linda Walvoord Girard
AF Articles
The China Doll
by Carrie Howard
When Excessive Attention Sets Children Apart Holding Your Place with the Next Generation
by Jane Brown
I flashed back to encounters we'd had when Ian and his brothers and sisters were children. Now the shoe was on the other foot; I was the one singled out as different.
Raising Latino Kids
A Book for Parents:
Raising Nuestro Niños: Bringing Up Latino Children in a Bicultural World , by Gloria G. Rodriguez, Ph.D.
A Book for Children:
Carolyn's Story: A Book About an Adopted Girl , by Perry Schwartz
AF Articles
Connecting with a Culture
by Paula Hajar
A mother weaves a strand between her child's Guatemalan heritage and her Arab ethnicity.
I Have Two Countries
by Beth Roth
Emilio returned to Bolivia to meet his new sister-and gained a renewed connection to his birth country.
Raising African American Kids
A Book for Parents:
I'm Chocolate, You're Vanilla: Raising Healthy Black and Biracial Children in a Race-conscious World , by Marguerite Wright
A Book for Children:
The Colors of Us , by Karen Katz
AF Articles
On Becoming African American
by Jane Sanders
"Raised in a white community, I've just begun to embrace my heritage..."
Transracial Adoption: A History in Black & White
by Phil Bertelsen
What have we learned over the last 30 years-and what are we doing now to offer our children a better understanding of who they are?
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