Jennifer Harvey > Quotes

“One white person cannot on her own change the collective meaning of her white identity by antiracist action. But one person can continually change her own relationship with her white identity. We can enable our children to cultivate a meaningful sense of their identity as people who live for justice and in resistance to racism despite being from a people from whom such behaviors are rarely expected (and, unfortunately, too rarely come).”
― Jennifer Harvey, Raising White Kids: Bringing Up Children in a Racially Unjust America

“given that racism is, tragically, far too normal and pervasive in the United States, Raising White Kids presumes that cultivating antiracism in our children and living it ourselves is a key commitment to bringing up healthy white children in this nation.”
― Jennifer Harvey, Raising White Kids: Bringing Up Children in a Racially Unjust America

“talking about racism is not actually ‘telling them about something they didn’t even know existed,’ but helping them understand what they witness, experience and/or participate in every day.”8 Direct adult intervention is necessary, then, to challenge and question the conclusions children will otherwise draw, conclusions that will reflect the broader, racist messages that float freely throughout society. We can’t intervene if we’re teaching color-blindness.”
― Jennifer Harvey, Raising White Kids: Bringing Up Children in a Racially Unjust America