Dear White Women, You Can Do Better

Dear White Women

Systemic racism, anti-racism, and education have been topics of interest ever since we started seeing abuse by law enforcement officers of the Black and brown communities play out on our TV screens last summer. If you’re wondering how to educate and how to be a part of raising a generation of children that practice anti-racism consciously, today’s episode is for you. Our guests, Sara and Misasha, have been rocking the boat with their weekly podcast, Dear White Women, where they channel their different skills to help white moms use their privilege to uproot systemic racism. Tune in to hear why the conversation about race is relevant for all of us, why it is a privileged stance to suggest avoiding conversations about race with your child, and the philosophy behind the Dear White Women Podcast. You’ll also find out why it’s important to uncover your own internal biases in order to heal and connect. Sara and Misasha share some tools that they have used to explain race and difference to their children and get candid about their experience raising of mixed race children in 2021. We hope you join us for a rich and informative discussion today!

Key Points From This Episode:

• The two layers of change: internal work and systemic change.
• How it got personal for Misasha’s during the police brutality in summer last year.
• Why the conversation around race is relevant for all of us: racism hurts all of us.
• Why it is a privileged stance to suggest avoiding conversations about race with your child.
• The philosophy behind Dear White Women: leading with heart, without shame, and bringing everyone into the conversation. 
• How important it is to model an inclusive environment and community for your kids.
• Challenges Misasha faces in speaking to her kids about these issues correctly.
• Representation as a small but important way to create inclusivity.
• How the values that you teach at home are irrelevant unless you embody them.
• The role of slowing down and listening to your body to identify unconscious bias and racism.
• Why our internal bias and racism doesn’t make us bad people, but needs to be uncovered.
• How uncovering this bias can help us heal and connect with others.
• Asking questions of yourself and others as a way to deconstruct internalized biases.
• The generalizations we make about people of color and how we don’t with white folks. 
• How crayons can be used to explain difference between people.
• Why children’s questions are a great entry point to be able to have discussions.
• The importance of allowing kids to see themselves and others in books and media.
• How it’s not too late to start having these conversations and instill critical thinking skills.
• Connecting with why we care about racism and integrating those questions into dinnertime.
• Why you can’t un-know what you know, and why it’s time to do something about it!

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Dear White Women

Dear White Women on Twitter
Dear White Women

The Zen Mommy

Mom, Slow Down!