The book that every parent, caregiver, and teacher needs to raise the next generation of antiracist thinkers, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of How to Be an Antiracist.
The tragedies and reckonings around racism that have rocked the country have created a specific crisis for parents and other caregivers: How do we talk to our children about it? How do we raise our children to avoid repeating our racist history and the ongoing errors of the present? While we do the work of dismantling racist behaviors in ourselves and the world around us, how do we raise our children to be antiracists?
After he wrote the National Book Award–winning Stamped from the Beginning, readers asked Ibram Kendi, “How can I be antiracist?” After he wrote the bestsellers How to Be an Antiracist and Antiracist Baby, readers began asking a different question: “How do I raise an antiracist child?” This is a question Dr. Kendi had been asking himself ever since he became a teacher—but the question became more personal and urgent when he found out his partner, Sadiqa, was pregnant. Like many parents, he didn’t know how answer the question—and wasn’t sure he wanted to. He didn’t want to educate his child on antiracism; he wanted to shield her from the toxicity of racism altogether.
But research and experience changed his mind: He realized that antiracism has to be taught and modeled as early as possible—not just to armor them against the racism that is still indoctrinated and normalized in our children’s world, but to remind parents and caregivers to build a more just future for us all.
Following the model of his bestselling How to Be an Antiracist, Kendi combines vital scholarship with a compelling personal narrative of his own journey as a parent to create a work whose advice is grounded in research and relatable real-world experience. The chapters follow the stages of child development and don’t just help parents to raise antiracists, but also to create an antiracist world for them to grow and thrive in.
“Both memoir and call to action, Ibram X. Kendi’s insightful book rightly encourages the critical thinking that all adults need to engage the children they love in the most essential conversations about racism. Don’t fool yourself—silence is not a helpful strategy! If you want to raise empowered, antiracist children, read this book, take a deep breath, and start talking.”
“The littlest human being can learn to be an antiracist. Antiracist parenting is imperative as white supremacists recruit on the internet daily; parents need to be proactive by developing the skills and language to understand the parenting journey of antiracism. With love, vulnerability, and the remarkable brilliance we have now come to expect in his books, Kendi walks us through this journey. No matter where you are as an antiracist parent or the age of your child, this book is for you.”
“With the fierce devotion of a parent who demands a safer world for his child, our most trusted voice on antiracism reveals the critical role of parents, caregivers, and teachers in fostering either racist or antiracist attitudes in all children. Rendered intimate with stories from his own childhood and his parenting journey, this book is as compassionate as it is cogent and timely. Ibram X. Kendi once again lights the way.”
““Kendi’s latest . . . combines his personal experience as a parent with his scholarly expertise in showing how racism affects every step of a child’s life. . . . Like all his books, this one is accessible to everyone regardless of race or class.””
