Moving Upstream: Confronting Racism to Open Up Children’s Potential

The scientific evidence is clear and growing: racism imposes unique and substantial stressors on the daily lives of families raising young children of color. Understanding how these stressors affect child health and development provides a compelling framework for new ideas about how communities, policies, programs, and funding streams might confront and dismantle these inequities and build a stronger future for us all.

This brief discusses how racism creates conditions that harm the well-being of children and families, and the need to go “upstream” and create policy solutions to address the source of structural, cultural, and interpersonal forms of racism.