How soon is too soon to discuss race relations with your children? The simple solution: just do it. And as soon as is practical.
When you have school-aged children and they are exposed to kids who are not Black, you should start having the conversation. You want your kids to understand the subtleties of racism so that they can inform you when something unpleasant is going on.
Some Black mothers wish to preserve a sense of innocence within their kids and believe that exposing them to the evils of the world will taint them too early. Others think that you’re putting your kids at a disadvantage by not having the difficult conversations with them when they’re young. However, when you live in a world that teaches the superiority of Whites and the inferiority of non-Whites, it’s imperative as a mother that you control the narrative that is being told to your child.
It’s taken years of enlightenment within the Black community for us to do our own research about our history, and we have to want better for our children. It doesn’t make sense for them to be indoctrinated with false narratives, just for you to attempt to undo them at an age that you feel they’re ready to learn the truth.
Start with the truth, and the truth shall set you free.
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