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I'm Chocolate, You're Vanilla: Raising Healthy Black and Biracial Children in a Race-Conscious World


by Marguerite Wright

List Price: $15.95
Price: $10.85
You Save: $5.10 (32%)
Available: Usually ships in 24 hours
Sales Rank: 34413
Studio: Jossey-Bass
Binding: Paperback
Number Of Pages: 304
Publication Date: May 08, 2000
Publisher: Jossey-Bass


ACCESSORIES

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EDITORIAL REVIEWS

Product Description
This superb, rational, and highly readable volume answers a deeply felt need. Parents and educators alike have long struggled to understand what meanings race might have for the very young, and for ways to insure that every child grows up with a healthy sense of self. Marguerite Wright handles sensitive issues with consummate clarity, practicality, and hope. Here we have an indispensable guide that will doubtless prove a classic.
--Edward Zigler, sterling professor of psychology and director, Yale Bush Center in Child Development and Social Policy

A child's concept of race is quite different from that of an adult. Young children perceive skin color as magical--even changeable--and unlike adults, are incapable of understanding adult predjudices surrounding race and racism. Just as children learn to walk and talk, they likewise come to understand race in a series of predictable stages.

Based on Marguerite A. Wright's research and clinical experience, I'm Chocolate, You're Vanilla teaches us that the color-blindness of early childhood can, and must, be taken advantage of in order to guide the positive development of a child's self-esteem.

Wright answers some fundamental questions about children and race including:
* What do children know and understand about the color of their skin?
* When do children understand the concept of race?
* Are there warning signs that a child is being adversely affected by racial prejudice?
* How can adults avoid instilling in children their own negative perceptions and prejudices?
* What can parents do to prepare their children to overcome the racism they are likely to encounter?
* How can schools lessen the impact of racism?
With wisdom and compassion, I'm Chocolate, You're Vanilla spells out how to educate black and biracial children about race, while preserving their innate resilience and optimism--the birthright of all children.


CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 26 reviews)

Good for anyone who wants to understand children of another race.  
Althought this book is titled and covered as a black/white book, it actually helps parents understand any child of a race different than white. We have an adopted Chinese daughter and it has enlightened me in many ways.
February 08, 2008

We're not ice cream!  
Wow, the title alone is a turn off for me. As a biracial individual, I am little offended at the simplification of racial-identity as ice cream flavors. There are no how-to's for white parents raising Black children. It's complex and often painful, and that's what white parents need to know going into this.
November 08, 2007

Wife loved this book  
We are adopting kids from Ethiopia, so I got this for my wife to read. She absolutely loved it. Not sure if it was due to our situation or if she would have loved it anyway. Brings up interesting points about inter-racial adoptions. She is recommending it to our friends and family as an good read.
September 06, 2007

What is Marguerite's race?  
This book was one of the worst I have read. As a transracially adopted person, a parent with a white partner and multi-racial kids, a teacher, and a diversity director, this book is misleading. It gives teachers of young children an excuse to not talk about race. This attitude silences children. It also gives them a message that there is something wrong with race. Do we not talk about gender at an early age, hair color, eyes. Let's get all these "researchers" to live, be in and run a classroom over time. There is where your research is. White parents, don't be fooled by this book. She is making money off of your need for eduacation.

May 21, 2007

Wonderful  
I have read a lot of these types of books since we are white and my son is African American. Great book for people preparing to adopt transracially. Gives you a lot to think about and prepare for. I think it's the best of these books.

I have also read the very popular "Inside Transracial Adoption" and this book takes a much more positive spin. I found the other one to be somewhat depressing. This book is much more hopeful and helpful. I consider it a must read if you are considering adopting a child of a race different than your own.
February 16, 2007


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