Summary

A growing body of scientific evidence is shedding light on the full toll of racism on human health and wellbeing. With that evidence comes an opportunity to promote fresh thinking about racism as part of the context in which young children learn, develop, and grow.

The science of early childhood development is poised to contribute in meaningful ways to the ongoing public conversation about racism and the need to dismantle racist systems. To be a productive voice in that conversation, it is imperative that communications are optimally framed. Fragmented framing or messaging guesswork leave too much room for misperception among decision-makers and their constituents. This is especially the case on an issue this complex.

This brief draws from previous research by the FrameWorks Institute to offer guidance grounded in empirical investigations into how Americans think about race and racism—and how to communicate in ways that shift mindsets and open thinking in productive directions. We articulate a set of predictable communications challenges, identify the cultural models that create those challenges, pinpoint communications habits that exacerbate them, and enumerate strategies that can help the science shine through.

This analysis is firmly grounded in evidence—each finding and recommendation is supported by framing research on topics that are relevant and adjacent to the topics of interest for communicators seeking to share the science of early childhood. These findings and recommendations are provisional and preliminary, in that none have been tested specifically for their effects on the specific outcomes of interest to communicators breaking new ground in the territory between early childhood development and racism.