Deborah Rivas-Drake quoted in New York Times article about raising anti-racist children
Professor Deborah Rivas-Drake was quoted in a New York Times opinion article authored by Melinda Wenner Moyer, a science journalist and author. Moyer’s article, “How to Raise Kids Who Won’t Be Racist,” comments on the importance of having open conversations about race and racism with children.
Citing experts like Rivas-Drake to dispel the myth that teaching children about racism will perpetuate racism, Moyer explains steps that families can take to ensure that their children are able to challenge incorrect assumptions and understand the role of centuries of systemic racism in creating inequities.
Moyer draws on Rivas-Drake’s work: “Friendships are a major mechanism for promoting acceptance and reducing prejudice,” says Deborah Rivas-Drake, a psychologist and educational researcher. Rivas-Drake’s work seeks to illuminate promising practices that interrupt racism and xenophobia and that help set diverse young people on trajectories of positive contribution to their schools and communities. She is the author of Below the Surface: Talking with Teens about Race, Ethnicity, and Identity (Princeton University Press).
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