Contexts for Family Talk about Racism: Historical, Dyadic, and Geographic

ABSTRACT

Scholars studying ethnic-racial socialization often call for research with larger and more representative samples to permit comparison of the behaviors of members of various ethnic-racial subgroups. Moreover, research has highlighted the value of examining contextual variables that may influence ethnic-racial socialization behaviors. With a backdrop of the racially charged 2016 United States (U.S.) presidential election campaign, national survey data from White, Black, and Hispanic parents of children ages 6 to 17 were merged with geographic race data. Findings reveal that characteristics of parents (including partisanship) and children (especially age), as well as dyadic characteristics of the parent–child (e.g., general talk frequency and campaign-related talk) and of the geographic context (i.e., county racial composition) affect the frequency of parent–child racism talk. Many predictors vary in their importance by parent ethnicity-race. For instance, White parents talk about racism less, and Black parents more, when Whites numerically dominate the county in which they reside.