When Isaac and I travel for United? We Pray events, we try to have a time for open Q&A at every event. I enjoy hearing from people and feel better informed to address their concerns once I know their particular questions. Sometimes we get new questions, but more often than not, we get variations on the same questions everywhere we go. One that comes up often is, “How should I be talking to my kids about race and racism?”
Sometimes the person asking the question is white, and they want to equip their white children to advocate for minority friends. Sometimes the person asking the question is a minority who wants to prepare their child for the harsh realities of this world. No matter who is asking the question, it feels daunting to answer.
A blessing of being involved in this ministry is that we have so many people who contribute content. If this question is something you’ve asked yourself, these resources may help you thoughtfully engage your children:
Highlighting Diversity with Carl Laferton
Carl Laferton helps run the Good Book Company. This interview highlights the importance of diverse racial representation, even in the books we read to our children.
Raising the Next Generation
Josh Chatman has a podcast called Train ‘em Up in which he and his wife thoughtfully engage the task of parenting. In this podcast, Josh and I talked about the things we want to communicate to our kids to raise up the next generation of bridge-builders.
Talking to Kids about Race
Shai Linne shared some of the hard experiences from his childhood and explained how those have shaped his approach to parenting. This is tough to hear, but this is the reality faced by many of our brothers and sisters.
Church, Diversity, and the Questions Kids Ask
Courtney Reissig examined some of the questions her kids have asked her about race and why things are the way they are. Her honest grappling with the answer may serve you as you try to answer similar questions.
Jerome Gay on African Heroes
Jerome Gay authored an excellent children’s book on the African heroes of the Christian faith, African Heroes: Discovering Our Christian Heritage (Greensboro, NC: New Growth Press, 2023). If you’re looking for a way to explore this topic with your kids, this book might help.
Black Kids in a White Church
Josh Chatman described challenges his children face as some of the only minority kids at a predominately white church. Whether or not this family’s experience mirrors your own, the concerns in this article will help you love others better.
The Effects of Legal Segregation On Students Today
Faith Cote is a public school teacher who shares about the effects of segregation on children today. This is a topic many of us would rather not think about, but it hasn’t gone away.
Transracial Adoption with Brittany Salmon
Brittany Salmon wrote an excellent book called It Takes More Than Love: A Christian Guide to Navigating the Complexities of Cross-Cultural Adoption (Chicago: Moody, 2022) about transracial adoption. This was a very thoughtful interview about the challenges transracial adoptive families face and the grace God provides in it.
Adoption, Prayer, and the Unexpected
This last one is really special. Isaac interviewed a member of our church who has adopted three special needs children who do not share her ethnicity. Brittany Elmer is thoughtful, humble, and bold in what she shares, particularly about preparing her kids for challenges they might not be able to articulate.
Friends, these are just a few resources, and there are more on our website. But I hope this gets you started on having these conversations with the children in your life. Race and racism feel like daunting topics, but we know the One who promises to give wisdom to those who ask (James 1:5). Let’s prayerfully engage our kids so that the mistakes of the past have no bearing on the future.
Prayer Requests:
- Pray for wisdom. These are hard conversations.
- Pray for the kids in your life, that God would protect them from the sin of racism.
- Pray that God would raise up a new generation of bridge-builders who show the reconciling power of Jesus.
