Episode 34: Raising White Kids for Racial Justice in a Racially Unjust Society: A Conversation with Dr. Jennifer Harvey

On today’s episode of Speak Out with Tim Wise, Tim speaks with Dr. Jennifer Harvey, Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Drake University, and author of the new book, Raising White Kids: Bringing Up Children in Racially Unjust America (for which he provided the foreword). They’ll discuss the reasons why so many white parents avoid discussions of race with our kids, and the harm this silence ultimately does to our children's understanding of racial dynamics in America. The conversation explores the common (if well-meaning) mistakes often made by white parents, and why telling your kids “we’re all equal,” is not only unhelpful but actually detrimental to the creation of a more racially just society. They’ll discuss examples in their own lives, and interactions with their own kids, where racial issues came to the fore and how they handled those moments — for good and bad — and how parents can become more competent at fostering a healthy antiracist white identity development in their children, thereby helping to generate in those young white people a true sense of solidarity with peoples of color.