Educators should confront their own racial identities before facilitating conversations about race with students. They should also reach out to parents to inform them about the conversations that will be taking place in the classroom.
Background readings to prepare for teaching and talking about race in the classroom:
Ali Michael, Raising Race Questions: Whiteness & Inquiry in Education
Ali Michael, What White Children Need to Know about Race
Matthew R. Kay, Not Light, But Fire: How to Lead Meaningful Race Conversations in the Classroom
Beverly Tatum, Why are all the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?
How Should I Talk about Race in My Mostly White Classroom?
How to Start Talking About Race in the Early Elementary Classroom
Podcast: Ten Things Every White Teacher Should Know When Talking About Race
Anti-Bias Books for Kids
The books on this list were recommended by Flow of History teachers and librarians at recent workshops. The books:
- talk about race and identity
- tell stories of journeys from victim to victor
- provide examples of being an ally or upstander
- portray people of color with having agency and courage
The Teaching for Change Project has a more detailed Guide for Selecting Anti-Bias Children’s Books
| Book Title | Theme & Topic | Grade Level/ Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Come August. Come Freedom | Enslaved people with agency, not as victims | Middle School; Historical Fiction; historical fiction; used in the classroom |
| Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives | Documentary film; full diverse picture of slavery. There is resistance in it. | Middle School |
| Julius Lester, Let’s Talk about Race | Themes of identity and talk about race, raises lots of good conversation with kids | Elementary; Picture Book; works well in the classroom at 5th grade and up |
| Russell Freedman, Freedom Walkers | Children as activists; allies and upstanders | 5th Grade and up; used in classroom; good visuals |
| All American Boys | Novel about Black Lives Movement; police brutality; told from two perspectives–black and white; bystander | Middle School; similar to Hate U Give in theme; read ahead before using with students |
| Julius Lester, Day of Tears | About the largest slave auction in North America; Examples of Upstanders | Middle School; used as readers theater where kids select roles to read; challenging language for middle schoolers allows for good conversations about “n” word, etc |
| Separate is Never Equal | Takes place in California; Mexican; Reminds us that the issue of Civil Rights is for all people of color, not just African-Americans | 5th Grade; Picture Book |
| Sonia Sotomayor: A Judge Grows in the Bronx | Similar theme to above | 5th grade +; Picture Book; Bilingual, teacher has a Spanish speaker read it to the class |
| Esperanza Rising | Mexico; Migrant Workers; characters with dark and light skin–entry point to talking about race | Easy read for 5th Grade |
| Little House on the Prairie | Examples of institutional racism for Native Americans; disparities of power between whites and indians; Black doctor–has agency, saves whites | Middle School; class finds black doctor in the census and learns about his role in the community |
| Chains Trilogy | Powerful black girl in the Revolution | Upper Elementary; Middle historical novel |
| Ghost and Patina | Part of a series; Perseverance. Set in NYC with a track team. | Big hit with students 10+ |
| Bud, Not Buddy | Funny, sweet, hopeful, set in the Great Depression | 5th/6th Grade |
| Child of the Civil Rights Movement | Shows what kids can do | More than one teacher suggested this |
| Henry Climbs a Mountain | About Thoreau and not paying taxes because of slavery |