February is Black History Month, a month where we celebrate African American luminaries who have blazed a trail in every facet of human endeavor. It is a celebration that is well-deserved but it also underscores the systemic racism that made—and continues to make—America a deeply unequal society: a society where former slaves were never compensated for the theft of their labor, dignity, and humanity but former slave owners were compensated for their losses; a society that can trace the shameful chasms that exist today between white and black Americans in wealth, education, healthcare, incarceration rates, and social mobility directly to that failure to make freed people free.
If we want a future where all our children are treated equally, where they all have good healthcare, sound education, safety, and security, then we must all own our role in allowing such an inequitable society to persist.
Each day for this last week of Black History Month, Parenting for the Future will share suggestions of things everyone (especially parents, educators and children) can do to better understand the true roots of inequity in our society so that we are better prepared to create the future that all our children deserve. Check back at this page as the week progresses for links to our recommendations.