Dianne Haulcy on why it's important to talk to kids about race

When your children are young, you might get nervous as a parent at the prospect of telling them about things — like what racism is — that may scare them or take away their innocence.

Dianne Haulcy joined host Cathy Wurzer to tell the parents out there: Don’t avoid those conversations. Talk to your kids about race.

Haulcy is the senior vice president for family engagement at Think Small — a nonprofit that works to improve quality care and education for young children. She’s also the host of Early Risers, a podcast from Little Moments Count and MPR about raising children with a clear understanding of anti-racism, cultural differences and implicit bias.

Children are not born racist, but they can learn biases from an early age, Haulcy said, which makes it important to ground them in an anti-racist framework when they are young.

Moreover, for their own safety and well-being (along with that of others), children need to be prepared for the racism that they will witness and encounter in their lives, Haulcy said.

Black parents and other parents of color have been having these conversations with their kids for a long time, Haulcy pointed out. Haulcy is Black, and before she allowed her sons to take their driving tests, she grilled them on what to do if they got stopped by the police.

Both of her sons have already had encounters with the police while doing normal things like walking down the street or sitting in a car Haulcy said.

Haulcy has seen that many white parents feel they don’t know how to have these conversations, so they default to not saying anything. No one has all the answers, Haulcy reminded listeners; it’s most important to open the conversation so children can ask questions.

You can figure things out together, Haulcy said.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.

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