Bedtime stories, read over and over again — sometimes long past the point of父母耐力— are as powerful as prayer. At night, tucked in tight, children drift away to sleep on the last words of tales ofunselfish trees,熊第一次,步行去学校and spiders lighting Shabbat candles.
Behind the beautiful art and the deceptively simple prose, each carefully chosen word underscores a secret and powerful message:这是如何浏览世界，而无需在之后留下的情感大屠杀。这是如何在早上醒来，到外面去，免于恐惧。This is how to make space for holiness in your life.
The books we choose communicate our values. We use myths and stories to show our children how to be the adults we hope they will become. We use故事to teach our children to be the kind of people we wish we were.
But stories, however lyrical, won’t single-handedly teach white children to identify and challenge种族主义。颜色基巴包孩子的水彩图像不会分散他们的现实生活中的幼儿游戏和社交圈。
Only their父母can do that.
孩子们知道，当我们没有诚意。当他们看到我们的话，我们的行动之间的不和谐，他们遵循我们的行动。当你拥有的儿童约几摞书healthy foodbut cruise through the drive-thru seven nights a week, you can guess what your children will choose to eat when left to their own devices. Every parent knows this to be true.
Just as with the rest of your values, you already know that you lead by example. If you understand that, then you know that talking to your child about this particular moment in American history is not enough. If you want to teach your children about种族, the first step is for you to change your own behavior.
有很多方法可以做到这一点：首先，对话正常化关于差异。Make brown faces and voices part of your everyday life, not just when violent racism is impossible to ignore. Model the behaviors you want to see in your child. Be the adult you want your child to become.
I am a mother. A Jewish mother. A黑犹太母亲。我一直跟我的孩子们了解比赛，但被黑也没有给我任何特殊的优势。我读过，我已经试验，是的，我犯了错误。我可以提供创意和资源，这将有助于你开始教自己（和你的孩子）关于种族，但随后你需要采取的第一步。无需特殊设备。您现在就可以开始。
见比赛。
You may think you don’t see race, but your child certainly does (and if you’re being honest with yourself, you do, too). Even toddlers notice differences in skin color. Don’t panic when they point out that their friend’s skin color is darker than (or lighter than) theirs. Noticing race is not racist. Answer their questions about skin color honestly, and remember thatchildren understand racein different ways at different stages. Lay the groundwork for more complex conversations in the future as you go.
Really. See race.
Children’s books about color and diversity are a start, but you have reading to do, too. Go out of your way to find and sharebooks written by Jews of Color, like迈克尔TWITTY。Read classic books about race in America, but don’t stop there; push yourself to further think about and understand the concepts. Search out黑人拥有的书店, and read books by Black authors that align with what you ordinarily read — fromliterary fictionto科幻小说toromance。
Listen to your child.
It’s not enough to talk to your child about race. Ask your child what they know and what they have heard. Children overhear more than you realize and draw their own conclusions. This will give you a clearer sense of what you have and haven’t taught your child, the behaviors you have modeled, and the kinds of资源你需要。公开和诚实的，当你不知道答案。
Talk about race all the time.
与种族从事不应该是一种固有的负面意义的说话，任何超过被黑本身是负的。（我爱黑！）加强多样性的正面例子。Use everyday moments to point out places where diversity is lacking. Make sure there are children with different skin colors in their picture books and your magazines. Don’t wait for moments of crisis.
And don’t stop reading to your children. Start with this one.
Jewish university professor, award-winning author, and civil rights activist朱利叶斯·莱斯特was known for a body of work focused on African-American culture, history, and folklore, as well as for his fierce advocacy for books for Black children by Black creators. His children’s bookLet’s Talk About Race规格化，充满活力的图像和文本即使是最小的孩子可以理解，每个人都有比赛，而那场比赛是对很多事情，使每个人特殊的一个想法。该网页设有一书的视频阅读，以及讨论的问题开始对话。你可以找到更多的多元文化的犹太儿童读物这里。
Keep reading bedtime stories. And make sure that the values you espouse at bedtime, and the values your child sees in practice, are in agreement.
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