Do Right by Me: Learning to Raise Black Children in White Spaces

For decades, Katie DAngelo and Valerie Harrison engaged in conversations about race and racism. However, when Katie and her husband, who are white, adopted Gabriel, a biracial child, Katies conversations with Val, who is black, were no longer theoretical and academic. The stakes grew from the two friends trying to understand each others perspectives to a mother navigating, with input from her friend, how to equip a child with the tools that will best serve him as he grows up in a white family. 

Through lively and intimate back-and-forth exchanges, the authors share information, research, and resources that orient parents and other community members to the ways race and racism will affect a black childs lifeand despite that, how to raise and nurture healthy and happy children. These friendly dialogues about guarding a childs confidence and nurturing positive racial identity form the basis for Do Right by Me. Harrison and DAngelo share information on transracial adoption, understanding racism, developing a childs positive racial identity, racial disparities in healthcare and education, and the violence of racism. 

Do Right by Me also is a story about friendship and kindness, and how both can be effective in the fight for a more just and equitable society.