“It’s too hard to talk about race.” “My child is still too young.” “Maybe it is better to just not say anything and just get along.”

These are some of the things that all of us raising children may say to ourselves, regardless of our racial or ethnic background. But research shows multiple benefits of talking with children and adolescents more openly about their ethnic and racial identities. Open, honest conversations about race and ethnicity build positive self-esteem and help youth to cope if and when they face bias and discrimination. Talking about race and discrimination may be hard, but parents can learn to do this “one talk at a time.”

At the meetings of the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development that I recently attended, I heard an inspiring talk by Dr. Linda Kiang, a faculty member at Wake Forest University, part of a team of researchers across several U.S. universities who are developing the One Talk at a Time program to help families engage more comfortably in conversations about these difficult topics. Their research suggests that parents feel like they don’t know how to start these difficult conversations,........

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