Preparation for Bias Decisions and Conversations with Young Children Following the Murder of George Floyd

Abstract

Although research on racial socialization is well established, few studies have examined the influence of specific, highly publicized racialized events. We sought to gain a deeper understanding of Black parents’ preparation for bias with young children following the murder of George Floyd and other high-profile anti-Black murders during the pandemic. Researchers generated the following themes from parents’ responses using reflexive thematic analysis: determining their child’s readiness for the talk, reasons to delay the talk, initiating the talk, and recommendations for beginning the talk. The majority of parents of children age six and younger did not engage in preparation for bias following the murder of George Floyd due to perceptions of children’s inability to understand racism as well as desires to preserve children’s “innocence” and positive perceptions of police.