A Longitudinal Examination of White Children’s Anti-Racist Development

• In Event: The Development of Anti-Racism Among Ethnically and Racially Diverse Children and Youth

Abstract

“Racism is a universal influence for all youth’s development, including White youth” (Seaton, 2022, p. 938). However, less research has examined how racism shapes White children’s racial identity development as compared with children of color (Rogers et al., 2020). According to Helms (1995), positive White racial identity development includes becoming aware of one’s Whiteness, recognizing racism, and committing to racial justice. Hazelbaker et al. (2022) draw on Helms’ model to theorize the development of anti-racism among White children and youth. This qualitative study tested Hazelbaker et al. (2022) model by examining children’s understanding of the self (i.e., White racial identity development, White privilege), understanding of society (i.e., interpersonal and structural racism), and ideas about anti-racist action.
Participants were 24 monoracial White children who attended a K-8 school in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area. Children completed semi-structured interviews during the spring of 2018 (W1; M = 9.95, SD = 2.62) and the winter of 2020-2021 (W2; M = 12.95, SD = 2.62; 14 male, 7 female, 3 non-binary/some other gender). Questions probed children’s understanding of their ethnic-racial identity (e.g., “What does it mean to be [identity]?”; Gillen-O’Neel et al., 2014), racial identity centrality and pride (Pfeifer et al., 2007), and understanding of discrimination (e.g., “Sometimes kids get treated differently than other kids because of their skin color, race or ethnicity. Have you ever noticed this?”; Brown et al., 2010). Utilizing a Consensual Qualitative Research procedure (Hill et al., 2005), we identified themes that fit within the domains of Hazelbaker et al. (2022) model and compared frequencies from W1 to W2.
Results indicated that White children developed a more complex understanding of the self overtime. They described White privilege and White guilt more often at W2 compared with W1 (Table 1; Figure 1). These findings are consistent with descriptive statistics on children’s developing ethnic-racial identities. Indeed, slightly more children identified as White at W2 (20 versus 15 at W1). Children generally reported positive feelings about their racial identity, but their feelings of pride and importance decreased over time.
Further, while most children reported that they were aware of racial discrimination (W1: 75%; W2: 83%) and discussed racism with their parents (W1: 71%; W2: 88%), the qualitative findings suggest that children’s understanding of society (i.e., structural racism) became more complex over time (Table 1; Figure 1). For example, children’s descriptions of police violence were more frequent and more complex at W2. Additionally, some children recognized that racism cannot be perpetrated against them because they are White at W2. Finally, the number of children who mentioned taking action against racism (e.g., donating money, speaking up, becoming an activist) also increased over time (Table 1; Figure 1). Findings from the current study have implications for future research examining the factors that promote (versus hinder) anti-racism development among White children and the creation of family- and school-level interventions to support anti-racism development.

Authors

• Taylor Hazelbaker, The College of St. Scholastica
  Presenting Author

• Asya Harrison, California State University - Fullerton

• Virginia W Huynh, California State University - Northridge

• Cari Gillen-O'Neel, Macalester College