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Nonprofit EmbraceRace helps parents explain race to children
ALEX DANIELS of The Chronicle of Philanthropy, The Chronicle of Philanthropy
June 3, 2021
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Andrew Grant-Thomas reads to his daughter, Lena Grant-Giraud, on the back porch at their home in Amherst, Mass., on Monday, May 24, 2021. Grant-Thomas and his wife, Melissa Giraud, started the nonprofit EmbraceRace in 2016 when they found few resources to help them talk with their young daughters about race. The nonprofit’s approach, Grant-Thomas says, can be summed up in a simple mantra: “Start young, and keep going.” (M. Scott Brauer/Chronicle of Philanthropy via AP)M. Scott Brauer/AP
News about the police killing of George Floyd was everywhere. Officials at the Berkeley, Calif., school, where Perfecta Oxholm’s son attended kindergarten last year, decided not to talk directly about the death with the students. That didn’t stop the children from asking questions.
A gush of money from corporations, foundations, and others was given to EmbraceRace in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. Now the group is looking to keep the funds flowing to help fight racism.
Even the chocolate Santas are white.
My daughter loves Christmas, so when she wasn’t feeling well recently I looked for a small gift for her in the holiday section at Target. I went for a stuffed animal: the arctic fox from the Elf on the Shelf. Box in hand, I peered at the included picture book, which featured Santa. A white Santa. I’d already passed hand towels and pillows I couldn’t buy because they only featured white Santas and white elves. Same thing happened in the candy aisle even the chocolate Santas came wrapped in white-Santa foil. I put the stuffed animal back on the shelf.