Eps 78: Jasen Frelot and I get real about race and racism
Today’s guest is Jason Frelot. Jasen is a community organizer, father, early childhood educator and social justice advocate based in Seattle, WA. Along with directing Columbia City Preschool of Arts and Culture, he is the co-founder of Kids and Race Seattle, which has been featured in
and on NPRs Seattle Affiliate
; the program has served over 500 people to date and rising every month. His various actions around race and social justice have made front page news in Seattle and have been featured on local news numerous times. He has 15 years of working with children in various capacities.
“What we are going for here is real change. What we are going for here is a real conversation that is messy. That means diving deeper into that discomfort.”
What you’ll hear in this episode:
• Racial identity and the inherent problems with color blindness • How we are teaching white children to be racist and brown/black children they don’t have value (even though we don’t mean to) • How to respond to uncomfortable questions about race and social order • Silence and it’s role in reinforcing the status quo • The role of parenting in promoting diversity • Equality vs equity – what’s the difference? • Treating everyone the same and how it perpetuates inequity • Acknowledging the reality of now: the problem with discussing racism as history and other’s people’s problem • Achievement gaps vs opportunity gaps • Fear of being labeled racist and how it detracts from race focused conversation. • Acknowledging racism as a problem in order to address it • Understanding white privilege – situational power, structural power and individual power. • The relationship between privilege and struggle – how they can both be present • Race as an ongoing conversation • Impacts of opting out of race-focused conversations due to the magnitude of the issue and the responsibility to persevere • Recognizing your role in the problem and in how to fix it • The role of media in how our children view the world and the value of other people - what kids see and what they hear: which impacts children more in the conclusions they draw about the world • Analogy and allegory vs. representation and conversation in media • Role modeling respect in our relationships • Consciously exposing children to diversity • Equipping our teachers to have conversations about race • How to be the squeaky wheel about promoting diversity • Silence as violence: choosing to be uncomfortable and vocal to incite change • Handling pushback and using criticism as an access point to empathy as an ally
Resources: Culturally responsive teaching and the brain Kids and Race Resources
Where to find Jason: Columbia City Preschool of Arts and Culture, a brand new, social justice based program. Now enrolling for this Spring, and the upcoming school year. for more information go to columbiacitypreschool.org
Kids and Race: Changing the Narrative. March 11th at Epiphany. Tickets available. Contact for future events and information kidsandrace@gmail.com.
Speaking opportunities: kidsandrace@gmail.com The Well Queen Anne
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