The article I chose for this week discusses why it is important to have conversations with young children about race. The author, Margaret A. Hagerman, begins by stating that adults tend to steer away from talking about race and racism with their children. With thoughts that by not talking about it will eventually reduce racism. However, Hagerman argues this and states how social science researchers have debunked this. With studies showing that kids notice racial differences and learn societal rules about race when growing up and talk about it with their peers whether their parents know about it or not (Hagerman, 2019). The article also discussed how racism affects kid’s understandings of themselves and others as well as how influential the media is and how it plays a part (Hagerman, 2019; Dubrofsky, 2013).
Hagerman conducted a two-year ethnographic study in 2011- 2013 with 36 white affluent kids in the Midwest and in 2015 reinterviewed some of them as high schoolers. In 2016, Hagerman expanded her research and included interviews with kids from varying economic backgrounds who identify as Black, Latinx, White, and biracial. Through her findings she found varying different remarks and views on race, racism, social, and political current events. Another part I found interesting in the article was how Donald Trump’s run for presidency was involved in so many of the children’s conversations in 2016.
Moving forward, Hagerman suggests that parents and teachers should listen to their children and support instead of silence them. Asking their kids what they want to know by actively teaching and joining in on conversations while also giving them the “tools of empowerment, resilience, and action” (Hagerman, 2019).
This article ties in nicely with my research since one of my goals for this project is to identify how our perceptions of race affect us when growing up and how it can influence our identities and feelings about society. Also, to address how parents with adopted children have a duty to assist in their child’s upbringing by talking about their child’s race and culture with them. I also found it interesting that this article included kids takes on Trump and whether they thought he has made past racist remarks. Another part of my research and project that I’d like to address is how the media was a catalyst for spreading the remarks Trump has made on the pandemic and about the Chinese people. Comments which have provoked and influenced the spread of AAPI hate across the country.
For our training day, I watched Learning Video Production and Editing, Scriptwriting for Nonfiction Video and Beating Procrastination. I found Scriptwriting for Nonfiction Video to be the most helpful where I learned skills that will help towards writing the script for my documentary short. The most helpful ones were how to come up with a narrative arc for a film that’s nonfiction and advice to identify and hone in on only a couple of main goals that have a focused target audience. Although it wasn’t on my training list I also watched Beating Procrastination. It wasn’t as informative as I thought it would bebut any tips or tricks to no longer procrastinate that I can use and teach myself are helpful.
Hagerman, M. A. (2019). Conversations with kids about race. Phi Delta Kappan, 100(7), 17–21. https://doi.org/10.1177/0031721719841333
Dubrofsky, R.E. (2013). Jewishness, Whiteness, and Blackness on Glee: Singing to the tune of postracism. Communication, Culture & Critique, 6 (1), 82–102.
Learning Video Production and Editing. LinkedIn Learning. Retrieved September 21, 2021, from
Scriptwriting for Nonfiction Video. LinkedIn Learning. Retrieved September 21, 2021, from
https://www.linkedin.com/learning/script-writing-for-nonfiction-video/welcome?u=2206009
Beating Procrastination. LinkedIn Learning. Retrieved September 21, 2021, from
https://www.linkedin.com/learning/beating-procrastination/habits-build-willpower-8576716?u=2206009
