how to raise racist kids

The message is simple, but it makes sense. This is an interesting article on Wired.com on kids and race, and research suggesting that a lot of our assumptions about raising our kids to appreciate diversity are entirely wrong: How to Raise Racist Kids. The steps are simple:

Step One: Don't talk about race. Don't point out skin color. Be "color blind."

Step Two: Actually, that's it. There is no Step Two.

Congratulations! Your children are well on their way to believing that is better than everybody else.

Authors Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman researched the issue of kids and race for their book NurtureShock. While it's easy (and convenient) to assume that in this day and age, in a society that is more diverse than ever, the next generation of children will simply grow up "colorblind" and cool with people of every race.

This assumption is just plain wrong:

What Bronson and Merryman discovered, through various studies, was that most white parents don't ever talk to their kids about race. The attitude (at least of those who think racism is wrong) is generally that because we want our kids to be color-blind, we don't point out skin color. We'll say things like "everybody's equal" but find it hard to be more specific than that. If our kids point out somebody who looks different, we shush them and tell them it's rude to talk about it. We think that simply putting our kids in a diverse environment will teach them that diversity is natural and good.

While the "everybody's equal" sentiment is nice, and the desire to instill a "color blind" attitude in your kids perhaps comes from a good place, completely ignoring race doesn't help anybody. In fact, it appears to do more harm than good. Bottom line: talk to your kids about race. (Thanks, Ellen.)