A Moment or a Movement? A Longitudinal Analysis of White Antiracist Parenting

• In Event: 50261 - Family Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 1: Childrearing & Parenthood

Abstract

The global protests that fomented after George Floyd’s 2020 murder have been heralded as one of the largest and most diverse mass mobilizations in contemporary history. They also featured an unusual sight: scores of white people taking to the streets, publicly decrying anti-Black violence in the United States. Public commentators wondered aloud what this meant—had white people finally “awakened” to racial inequality in the United States? Further, would white people continue to mobilize against racism once streets emptied of protesters and news cycles pivoted to other stories?

Some public thinkers argue that it depends on the actions of white parents who bear a tremendous responsibility socializing the next generation of white Americans. During the height of Black Lives Matter activism, these public figures called on white parents to raise antiracist youth—children knowledgeable about racial inequality in the United States and motivated to support Black and Brown racial justice efforts throughout their life-course.

This paper uses longitudinal qualitative data to examine the experiences of 31 white parents who embraced the call to raise antiracist white children. In 2019, this sample of antiracist white parents reported speaking with their white kids about racism and white privilege, donating time, money, and expertise to antiracist groups, and encouraging their kids to “speak up and out” when they noticed racism. While a promising development, we wondered whether parents sustained their antiracist practices years later? Was their adoption of antiracist parenting indicative of a moment or a movement in U.S. history?

To answer this question, we conducted follow-up interviews with parents in 2023 and asked them to describe how their antiracist parenting had evolved over the four-year study period. What sustained or inhibited their antiracist parenting? Further, how did they make sense of these changes?

Authors

• Megan R. Underhill, University of North Carolina-Asheville

• Reilly Kincaid, University of Arkansas