Racist make-believe games: parenting advice from Care and Feeding.
Dear Care and Feeding, My kindergartner, “James,” has gotten off to a wonderful start at his new school. His teachers have praised his academic work and said he’s a good friend. He tells my husband and I every day that he plays with “Sam” and “Ben,” two other boys in his class. When I started asking him about what they play, he described a pirate game. I was not delighted when he told me that in the game, he and Sam are the pirates and Ben, the only Black student in their class, is their dog—named Oreo! Eek! I didn’t want to make a big deal of it, so I just asked if Ben was ...