Talking more and saying less: White parents’ discussions of race-related current events before and after the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests
This study presents a detailed qualitative analysis of the racial ideologies White parents of adolescents communicate to their children in the context of discussions of race-related current events. Two samples of White parents of adolescents ages 14-17 were recruited online in September 2019 (Study 1, N = 124) and June 2020 (Study 2, N = 104), respectively. Parents responded to prompts about race-related current events, and their answers were coded. Rates of discussion of race-related current events in 2020 were double that of 2019; however, qualitative analysis revealed that White parents in the 2020 sample communicated fewer clear messages about race and Whiteness to their children. Socialization messages relating to Whiteness were rare in both samples.