Ibram X. Kendi talks counteracting racism in new books for children, parents

BOSTON -  Ibram X. Kendi, the founder of Boston University's Center For Antiracist Research, is coming out with two new books aimed at counteracting racism.

One is for parents called "How To Raise An Antiracist," and the other is a play on "Goodnight Moon," called "Goodnight Racism."

The best-selling author said Monday on CBS Mornings that it's wrong to assume that "kids don't see color." He said research has shown that kids recognize skin color by the time they are 1. At 3 years old, kids are attaching skin color to positive or negative traits.

"How are we counteracting that? It's dangerous for our kids to be like, 'I don't want to play with that Black boy,'" Kendi, a CBS News contributor, said. "I want us to counteract that as parents."

Kendi wants parents to teach children that there are many different shades on the "human rainbow." He calls racism a "sucker of joy" and keeps kids from being kids.

"We need to protect our kids from racist ideas, from the idea that dark is ugly or light is beautiful. That actually prevents them from being children," he said.

Kendi received a MacArthur Foundation genius grant last year for his anti-racist work. But CBS News notes that his book "Antiracist Baby" came under fire from Republicans during the Supreme Court hearings for Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson and Fox News personality Tucker Carlson called his writings "poisonous."

Kendi says "race is a mirage, but racism is real."

"The unfortunate truth is we live in a society with all sorts of racial inequities and disparities, all sorts of ideas attaching goodness or badness to particular skin colors," he said. "We have to be teaching our children a different way of thinking, a way of being in the world."