According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, children begin to internalize racial bias as early as two years old and become set in their beliefs by age twelve. This bias shows up for White children as internalized White superiority that is reified by consuming all White books, media, and educational content. As a result, White children are raised to believe that they are race-less and that people of color are “others.” It also leaves them blind to the ways that society is set up to benefit them over Black, Indigenous and other People of Color. 

This is why it is vital that we talk to our kids about White privilege or the unearned advantages that White people receive because of their race.

Peggy McIntosh popularized the term “White privilege” in her 1988 essay entitled, White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack. In the essay, McIntosh uses the metaphor of an invisible knapsack to describe the unseen advantages that White people receive because they are White. 

This invisi...