Ep 220: How to Raise An Anti-Racist

Tiffany Jewell, author of This Book is Anti-Racist, joins us to
explain how we can raise teens who actively fight against
discrimination of all kinds. We discuss the difference between
race and ethnicity, explain how teens can explore their own
identity, and break down the harmful effects of microaggressions.


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Full show notes


Instead, Tiffany says we should encourage teens
toMicroaggressions, intersectionality, gendered language–all
these concepts are floating around the internet and even coming
out of our teens’ mouths, but what do they really mean? We know
that teens shouldn’t be racist or sexist, and that it’s important
to treat everyone equally, but is there more to the
discrimination discussion than just telling teens to be nice to
others? 





The answer is yes–If we want teens to create a better, more
equitable society, we have to educate them on the nuanced reality
of discrimination. Not only that, but we have to teach them how
to actively fight against it!





To help our kids become warriors against injustice, we’re talking
to Tiffany Jewell, author of the New York Times #1 Bestseller,
This Book Is Anti-Racist and The Antiracist Kid. Tiffany is an
educator who has been working with children and families for
nearly two decades! Her work focuses on anti-bias and antiracism
education for kids and teenagers everywhere.





In our interview, Tiffany and I are discussing the difference
between race and ethnicity and explaining how you can help your
teen discover their own intersectional identity. Plus, how teens
can deal with microaggressions from both friends and strangers.



Race vs. Ethnicity


Tiffany and I talk a lot about racism in the episode, but to
understand racism, we first need to understand race! 





Tiffany explains that race is actually a social construct,
instead of something found within the natural world. The word
“race” typically refers to a person’s skin color, hair texture or
other physical attributes. While race has often been a way to
categorize people over time, it’s not entirely accurate and even
has a pretty harmful history, as it’s often used to justify
oppression against minority groups.





 embrace the concept of ethnicity. Ethnicity refers to
ancestry, and the origins of those whom you and your teen are
descended from. While “Asian” might be seen as a racial identity,
ethnicity goes deeper to discover what region a person is
actually from, like South Korea, Thailand or Cambodia. Ethnicity
also encompasses language, religion, and other aspects of culture
that truly provide the nuanced reality of a person's background.





In our interview, Tiffany explains that we often don’t know the
difference between the two terms because our education systems
don’t teach us to differentiate. Even government forms are slow
to adapt to these different definitions, often just asking if
we’re “black or white”, “hispanic or non-hispanic”. These general
categorizations leave little room for nuance–it wasn’t even until
the year 2000 that the census allowed citizens to identify as
more than one ethnicity.





Understanding the difference between these terms is often a good
start for teens exploring their intersectional identity. In the
episode, Tiffany and I are breaking down what intersectional
identity means and how teens can develop a strong sense of pride
in who they are.



Intersectional Identities





You may have heard the term “intersectional,” but what does it
really mean? Tiffany explains that we all have various different
social identities–our ethnicities, gender identities, and
sexuality, among others. Intersectionality refers to how each of
these traits intersect within our own identity, and how they
change our relationship to others in society. 





For example, Tiffany shares that she identifies with multiple
ethnicities, while also identifying as a cisgender woman. This
means she’s faced some forms of discrimination–but not
necessarily all of them. She can speak to the reality of
experiencing racism, but she hasn’t had hateful rhetoric like
transphobia or homophobia aimed her way.





She reminds us that teens shouldn’t compete with others to prove
who’s more “oppressed”, but instead see how others also
experience discrimination thats similar to or different than what
they face. Understanding that different kinds of people can face
a multitude of forms of oppression can be critical for teens who
are still piecing together the realities of discrimination within
the world at large.





In the episode, Tiffany and I discuss how teens are often taught
to feel embarrassed about all the ways their identity doesn’t fit
into the dominant white, male, neurotypical culture–but those
differences can actually be superpowers. Teens who are
neurodivergent, differently-abled or simply unique can learn to
embrace what makes them stand out and harness it, says Tiffany.
In the interview, we talk more about how teens can turn these
“weaknesses” into superpowers.





For teens who identify with certain ethnic or gender identities,
stereotypes and microaggressions are an unfortunate part of life.
Tiffany is explaining what microaggressions are and how teens can
deal with them.



Managing Microaggressions


Microaggressions are comments that might seem small or
inconspicuous, but are actually quite harmful, says Tiffany.
Often, these comments refer to someone’s ethnicity or identity in
a way that’s demeaning or inappropriate. 





In our interview Tiffany shares an example from her own life,
when someone tried to make a game out of guessing her ethnicity.
She found their behavior dehumanizing–as do many people who deal
with microaggressions.





So how can teens deal with microaggressions if they find one
hurled their way? Tiffany explains that it's good for teenagers
to have the right friends, people who can defend them if somebody
makes an offensive comment. And if their friends aren’t around to
witness it, teens should have someone they can talk to about how
the microaggression made them feel–whether that's a friend,
parent, or mentor.





Sometimes teens might want to call out the person who uttered the
offensive comment, and Tiffany says that’s typically appropriate.
If someone utters a microaggression, they should be held
accountable, especially if they’re a public figure of any
kind. 





There are some instances, however, where teens might want to
“call in” instead of calling out, meaning they might want to just
pull the aggressor aside for a talk. Tiffany explains that this
is often in order when it’s a friend who’s made an inappropriate
comment, and the talk needs to be a bit more personal. In our
interview, we talk more about how teens can face microaggressions
and other forms of hateful rhetoric as they move through the
world.



In The Episode…





Tiffany and I tackle so many important issues in this week’s
episode. On top of the topics discussed above, we also talk
about:


Why activism is much more effective than charity

How schools cherry pick which cultural histories to
teach