Raising kids is never an easy task, but raising kids to be anti-racist can be even harder.

Ames Public Library hosted a workshop on “Bringing Up Children in a Racially Unjust America” with Jennifer Harvey on Sunday.

On the day before Martin Luther King Day, Ames Public Library welcomed Harvey, a professor of religion at Drake University and faculty director for the Crew Scholars Program, to speak on her experience in multi-racial activism and her most recent work, “Raising White Kids: Bringing Up Children in a Racially Unjust America.”

The event began with Harvey telling personal stories of how race has affected young children in and around her community and her experiences as a parent. She then began to discuss the challenges of teaching young children to be “color-blind,” or to not see race and how this type of thinking may be harmful.

“This is just not a parental problem, but a generational problem,” Harvey said. “It’s also not just about white kids. It’s a discussion for all of us.”

She then informed the audience of children’s ways of learning and how it is not only the parents that teach them about race but society as well. She offered ideas and ways that parents and family can fight familial transmissions of silence on racism.

“By the age of five, our children recognize that certain racial groups are treated differently,” Harvey said when discussing the power of racial scripts. “Kids notice everything: who is in this space, who is absent, who is in charge and who is not.”

After the briefing of Harvey’s novel was a short break, followed by a workshop where attendees were encouraged to make their own name tags and join the conversation with Harvey. The workshop was an open panel discussion that focused on the challenges of raising children to be anti-racist.

Many Ames community members shared their own experiences with the crowd and asked questions in regard to education on racial diversity and injustice. It was a dialogue between audience members and Harvey about ways parents can teach about race openly and honestly with their children and help them to recognize how racial injustice still exists in such a racially diverse society.

Once the workshop concluded, there was a social hour, where copies of the previewed novel and many other of Harvey’s works were available for sale and signing. Attendees were welcomed to converse over light beverages offered by the library staff and talk one on one with Harvey.

“Raising White Kids: Bringing Up Children in a Racially Unjust America” is the 2018 Foreword INDIE GOLD Winner for Family and Relationships. The novel was also named as one of 2019’s “books you should read this summer” by CNN.

More information on Harvey’s workshops and writing can be found on her website.