How to educate children not to be racist

Racism continues to be a reality that is reflected in practically all aspects of society. Virtually all countries suffer from this phenomenon, the result of ingrained irrational beliefs for centuries, and fighting against this type of discrimination is necessary to be able to socialize well.

On the other hand, racism is not just for adults. Its symptoms appear already in childhood, and in this vital stage it can give rise to episodes of cruelty and suffering without any meaning: bullying, marginalization, ridicule, prejudice, etc. In this article we will see several tips on how to educate children not to be racist.

• Related article: "The 8 most common types of racism"

Educating children to reject racism

It must be borne in mind that racism, in order to exist, does not need to have internalized some very developed about what a race is, or how the black, white or black population is supposed to behave. Similar. It is based, fundamentally, on prejudices that arise from the interpretation of certain aesthetic features.

This means that children can already begin to develop racism almost spontaneously, without the need for "Memorize" nothing, simply by being exposed to dynamics of interaction between people who have content racist. Passively, they begin to learn that those who have a certain physical appearance, dress in a certain way, or speak in a certain way, behave in a certain way.

Knowing this, let's see what to do to educate children away from racism.

1. Don't pretend that racialized people don't exist

The first step in fighting racism is recognize that there are a series of characteristics that discriminate against certain groups of people due to factors related to their appearance or their family origin. It is not feasible to show, for example, that there is no such thing as “black people” or “white people”.

The key is, yes, since the rejection of racism these differences between people are seen as cultural constructs, something that has emerged from how we interpret reality, and not as something that is present in human biology regardless of whether we think about it or not. That is, despite the fact that for biology the concept of human races does not make sense, yes it has it for social sciences.

Thus, expressing without complexes that there are racialized people (that is, those who have historically been discriminated against for characteristics such as their skin color) is necessary to advance towards the next steps to educate in the awareness of the condemnation of the racism.

• You may be interested: "Educational psychology: definition, concepts and theories"

2. Teaches why there are groups of people with different traits

Obviously, very young girls and boys it is not possible to explain the ins and outs of genetics to them, but it is good to make it clear that those traits to which a racial interpretation is attributed are like any other physical trait, such as being taller or shorter, having larger or smaller teeth, etc.

This is important so that they understand that appearance does not tell us anything about someone's personality in particular, or about their interests, her language, etc.

3. Explain that there are opposing visions

It is useless to talk about racism to children as if there were no social problem linked to it. That is why we must warn them by explaining that some people do believe that the characteristics associated with races add or detract from people or even describe their way of thinking and feeling, and at the same time you have to show why they are wrong.

Fundamentally, the idea that must be defended is that anyone, regardless of what they look like or whether they fit more or less with stereotypes She can be good or bad, shy or sociable, distrustful or warm, or in any other way with regard to her way of being and behave. Racism does not arise from people's bodies, but from situations of injustice that occurred ago long time (slavery, conquest, etc.) and whose effects are still felt in the beliefs of many people.

It is true that racism does not only have an origin based on beliefs and that there are other material factors that feed it (for example, certain types of borders), but it is better to give up such complex explanations so that the main message is better understood.

It is also good to give examples of common arguments used by racist people to try to defend their attitude, so that know how to recognize some of them in the future and, at that moment, remember the explanation related to why what is said is not certain.

4. Don't link races to regions

It is important that children are clear that the territories do not have races, and races have no territories. For example, a person with slanted eyes is not "Asian", since many people live in Asia who do not have this characteristic and many people with this characteristic live outside of there.

Of course, so that he understands that these traits are more common in certain areas, you can teach him some very basic notions about how life does not remain static, but changes through time (evolution) and space (migrations).