Combating Systemic Racism for Black Children: Role of Preservation, Protection, and Promotion

• In Event: Early Childhood Education for a New Age: Centering Equity and Social Justice

Abstract

COVID-19 exposed the historical legacy of racism against Black families and their children. Black adults were at high risk of catching, being hospitalized, and dying from the Coronavirus (Killerby et al., 2020). Black children were also at high risk to be sickened and hospitalized at a higher rate than White children (Goyal et al., 2020). Furthermore, evidence indicates racial disparities in COVID-19 vaccination access with Black people having received smaller shares of vaccinations compared to their shares of cases and compared to their shares of the total population in most states (Ndugga et al., 2021). The pandemic has resulted in the lives of Black families and children changing for the worse, which has implications for their wellbeing through this pandemic and over their life course. In this paper, I examine the experiences of Black families through an equity-centered framework that acknowledges systemic racism and cultural wealth that Black families are centering with their young children. I use data from the Rapid Assessment of Pandemic Impact on Development in Early Childhood (RAPID-EC) from the University of Oregon, which is an early childhood family well-being survey designed to gather essential information in a continuous manner regarding the needs, health promoting behaviors, and well-being of children and their families during the coronavirus pandemic.

Author

• Iheoma U. Iruka, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill