White Privilege Begets White Privilege

A reader asks: Can I tell my friend that race should play a bigger role in her parenting?

My good friend, who is white, is raising her young biracial daughter as a single mother. She is a loving mom, but in my opinion, she has not given enough thought to helping her daughter form a healthy self-image as a person of color. My friend is not a racist, but she was raised in an insular white community, and she has not reflected sufficiently on her white privilege. As a childless white woman, I am not the best person to give advice on parenting or racial sensitivity. But I would like my friend to reflect on these issues soon. Is there a supportive way to tell her this?

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