Have You Talked to Your Child About Race?

Anderson and CNN reporter Soledad O'Brien talked about a special CNN race study they uncovered, which involved 145 children. In particular, Anderson focused on a seventh-grader named Mikayla, who commented on a set of pictures depicting a white girl picking up money behind an African American girl, and vice versa.

While Mikayla told her version of what she thought the pictures meant, parents Jim and Jennifer watched the video of their daughter with Anderson. After viewing the video, Jennifer said, "I would definitely be interested to have that conversation with her and find out why her perception was different based upon the color of the girl's skin." Watch the video to find out what Mikayla said about the two pictures.

Many of the parents who watched their children participate in this race experiment revealed they did not have a discussion about race with their children, which leads us to ask: have you talked to your child about this topic?

If your child took this test, how would he/she interpret the pictures?

"Most of us became aware of race as early as ages 3 to 5, but we don't attach any meaning to it until we become bombarded by images in the media, from home, from our parents," says Clinical Psychologist Dr. Darleen Powell Garlington.

Dr. Darleen says that in order to become more open to new cultures, it's important to challenge oneself to understand when you first became aware of race.

She urges you to have honest conversations about race...

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