Pedagogy to Deconstruct Anti-Blackness: Three Conversations With White Children About a Racial Slur

Abstract

As a contrast to race evasive discourse, I share three conversations about the racial slur known as the N-word. These conversations were documented as part of a parent child autoethnography in which I attempted to enact antiracist pedagogy as a white parent of white children. Grounded in the frameworks of Critical Race Parenting and antiracist pedagogy, I advocate for conversations that ground current topics in accurate history, prepare youth to take action, avoid essentializing any racial group, and help children understand power and agency. The pedagogical examples also include how children’s literature that is straightforward about race might be used to enrich antiracist pedagogy.